The Market for Prisoners: Business, Crime and Punishment in the 'American Dream'

Posted: 13 Feb 2012

See all articles by Rafael Di Tella

Rafael Di Tella

Harvard Business School - Business, Government and the International Economy Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Laura Winig

Harvard Business School, Global Research Group

Date Written: December 7, 2010

Abstract

In 2010, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison operator in the U.S., was considering expansion options. The company's largest customers, federal and state governments, were under economic pressure to reduce the incarceration rate and lower operating costs, potentially jeopardizing CCA's profits. Should CCA follow its competitor's footsteps and expand overseas? Or could it count on an ever-increasing population of U.S. prisoners to fuel continued growth?

Learning Objective: To teach about how ideology affects some markets.

Suggested Citation

Di Tella, Rafael and Winig, Laura, The Market for Prisoners: Business, Crime and Punishment in the 'American Dream' (December 7, 2010). Harvard Business School BGIE Unit Case No. 710-042, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2004507

Rafael Di Tella (Contact Author)

Harvard Business School - Business, Government and the International Economy Unit ( email )

Cambridge, MA
United States
617-495-5048 (Phone)
617-496-5985 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.people.hbs.edu/rditella/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Laura Winig

Harvard Business School, Global Research Group ( email )

Greenhill House
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
663
PlumX Metrics