When Justice Lags: Civic Engagement, Deprivation, and Institutional Performance

When Justice Lags: Civic Engagement, Deprivation, and Institutional Performance | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article When Justice Lags: Civic Engagement, Deprivation, and Institutional Performance Massimo Arnone, Alberto Costantiello, Carlo Drago, Angelo Leogrande This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6519130/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The socio-economic and institutional factors explaining the length of civil proceedings (LCP) over the 2004-2022 time frame are analyzed here in 20 Italian regions. Adopting panel data analysis approaches, such as fixed-effects, random-effects, and two-stage least squares (2SLS) instrumental variables, the analysis investigates the effects of income inequality, material poverty, labor market disengagement, economic family distress, civic and political participation, and non-profit density on trial length. Results identify a significant positive association between net income inequality, intensity of work poverty, deterioration of household economic conditions, and civic and political participation and an increased length of proceedings. The findings suggest that structural socio-economic vulnerability and increased legal demand in civically active regions are factors prolonging proceedings. In contrast, non-profit density is strongly and inversely associated with trial length, suggesting their effectiveness in promoting institutional efficiency. Instrumental variables sourced in environmental, infrastructural, and sustainability indicators provide assurance of the robustness of these associations. The research stresses that legal inefficiencies are not peculiar exceptions but are part of deeply embedded and intricate systems of the wider society, economy, and the natural environment. Policy conclusions point to the necessity of integrated governance responses that interlink legal reform with social equity, civic empowerment, and environmental resilience to promote both the timeliness of justice and institutional accountability in regional settings. JEL Codes: K40, K41, I38, O43, R23. Macroeconomics Civil Proceedings Duration Income Inequality Socioeconomic Deprivation Civic Engagement Institutional Efficiency Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6519130","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":447365539,"identity":"613d1e3a-390f-4c3c-925f-fcbba4e78909","order_by":0,"name":"Massimo Arnone","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Catania","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Massimo","middleName":"","lastName":"Arnone","suffix":""},{"id":447365540,"identity":"7c13bcf4-dbb1-4870-8143-aec5a834a809","order_by":1,"name":"Alberto Costantiello","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"LUM UNIVERSITY GIUSEPPE DEGENNARO","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alberto","middleName":"","lastName":"Costantiello","suffix":""},{"id":447365541,"identity":"9ebe476c-cc22-4dd3-902b-55a0fc9586c0","order_by":2,"name":"Carlo Drago","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Unicusano University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carlo","middleName":"","lastName":"Drago","suffix":""},{"id":447365542,"identity":"9a33fd5e-37b2-4be9-8723-8ae724f0c609","order_by":3,"name":"Angelo Leogrande","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPijN2AAiH4AI9mYQWwKnFjYULQkJQILnIFgLTj1YtEgkgtm4tbA3H35dUXNHtp+B+ZlE4g+bfH7Jh21SNxgs6nBq4TmWZnnm2DPjmQ1sZhIJCWmWM2cntknn4HOYRI6ZYQPb4cQNB3jYgFoOGxjcJqRF/g1Qy7/DifthWuxvHiRkC4/xw8Y2oC0MMFskGAlo4UlLY2zsO2w84zCbsUVCWpqBxJnEZuscAwnJBhxa+NkPH/7Y8O2wbH9788MbH2xsDPjbDx+8nVNRx4/LFrDbwBQziqABHg1AtR/wSo+CUTAKRsEoAABg1U/Q4kxZZwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Lum University Giuseppe Degennaro","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Angelo","middleName":"","lastName":"Leogrande","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-24 09:09:01","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6519130/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6519130/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81598253,"identity":"6a7164fa-453c-4dec-a423-e0e938c9c303","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-29 03:17:14","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":423693,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"WhenJusticeLagsCivicEngagementDeprivationandInstitutionalPerformance.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6519130/v1_covered_f3d7e1d2-4dd2-4512-8f1d-b7cd79c9211f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Justice Lags: Civic Engagement, Deprivation, and Institutional Performance\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Civil Proceedings Duration, Income Inequality, Socioeconomic Deprivation, Civic Engagement, Institutional Efficiency","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6519130/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6519130/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe socio-economic and institutional factors explaining the length of civil proceedings (LCP) over the 2004-2022 time frame are analyzed here in 20 Italian regions. 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