Rethinking the Economic Model of Deterrence: How Insights from Empirical Social Science Could Affect Policies Towards Crime and Punishment
Review of Law & Economics, 5, 461 (2009)
31 Pages Posted: 2 May 2013 Last revised: 21 Jun 2013
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
Game-theoretic models incorporating neo-classical economic assumptions can be a powerful tool for identifying and analyzing issues relevant to legal policy. In this paper I argue that, where those assumptions are deficient, the efficacy of and insights from such models can be improved by incorporating insights from experimental social sciences. Following this paradigm, I propose an expansion of the neo-classical deterrence model of criminal behavior to incorporate, as reputation effects, social scientific theory regarding the effects of in-group norms on behavior. Analysis of the expanded model shows that there are material differences between the classic and expanded models in predictions, the latter of which are more consistent with macro-level observations. I then discuss some substantive implications of the predictions of the expanded model for criminal legal policy.
Keywords: discrimination, criminal law, law and economics, law and society, law and psychology
JEL Classification: K14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
The Optimal Tradeoff between the Probability and Magnitude of Fines
-
Optimal Law Enforcement with Self-Reporting of Behavior
By Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell
-
The Optimal Use of Fines and Imprisonment When Wealth is Unobservable
-
The Optimal Use of Fines and Imprisonment When Wealth is Unobservable