Many supporters and critics alike of state-level punitive damage caps might be inclined to predict that such caps will be more commonly enacted after large and noteworthy awards. However, Jonathan Klick (Pennsylvania) and Catherine Sharkey (NYU) examine data and find little detectable correlation of this kind, raising that possibility that state lawmakers enact them more as a prophylactic than as a palliative; indeed, state legal cultures in which high awards are endemic might prove equally if not more resistant to caps than states in which they are rare. An incidental but arresting finding: Republican-party vs. Democratic-party control of the lawmaking process may make less difference in outcomes than most would assume. [SSRN via TortsProf]