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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Megalokonomou, Rigissa (Monash University); Vasilakis, Chrysovalantis (Bangor University) |
| Abstract: | Recent political instability in the Middle East has triggered one of the largest influxes of refugees into Europe. The different departure points along the Turkish coast generate exogenous variation in refugee arrivals across Greek islands. We construct a new dataset on the number and nature of crime incidents and arrested offenders at island level using official police records and newspaper reports. Instrumental variables and difference-in-differences are employed to study the causal relationship between immigration and crime. We find that a 1-percentage-point increase in the share of refugees on destination islands increases crime incidents by 1.7-2.5 percentage points compared with neighboring unexposed islands. This is driven by crime incidents committed by refugees; there is no change in crimes committed by natives on those islands. We find a significant rise in property crime, knife attacks, and rape, but no increase in drug crimes. Results based on reported crimes exhibit a similar pattern. Our findings highlight the need for government provision in terms of infrastructure, social benefits, quicker evaluation for asylum, and social security. |
| Keywords: | crime, migration, natural experiment, Greek islands, difference-in-differences, shiftshare instrumental variable |
| JEL: | F61 F22 K42 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16502&r=law |
| By: | Daniel Borbely (Department of Economics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK); Markus Gehrsitz (Fraser of Allander Institute, Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany); Stuart McIntyre (Fraser of Allander Institute, Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK); Gennaro Rossi (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK) |
| Abstract: | In this article we study the effects of permanent school closures on crime. We leverage the closure of over 300 schools in Scotland between the school years 2006/07 and 2018/19, and employ a staggered difference-in-differences design on a matched sample. We find that neighbourhoods affected by school closures experience a reduction in crime of about 9% of a standard deviation, relative to areas where schools remained open. This effect is mainly driven by a reduction in violent and property crimes. We provide evidence on several mechanisms explaining the negative crime effect, such as changes in neighbourhood composition and reductions in school-level segregation. |
| Keywords: | Crime, School Closures, Neighbourhoods |
| JEL: | I38 R20 K42 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2023021&r=law |
| By: | Paolini, Gabriele |
| Abstract: | A global trend towards the imposition of criminal convictions without trial has been described as one of the key features of contemporary criminal procedure. Such phenomenon is referred to as "administratization" of criminal convictions, and it is characterized by the reliance on plea bargaining and penal orders as ordinary means for disposing of criminal cases. The present paper first describes the history, current adoption, and variations in the legal design of such procedures. Later, it provides original data about the extent of administratization of criminal convictions in fifty-nine jurisdictions worldwide. Finally, it discusses possible beneficial and adverse effects of higher administratization rates on key aspects of criminal justice systems, and the challenges to the empirical assessment of such effects. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ilewps:74&r=law |
| By: | Bougette, Patrice; Budzinski, Oliver; Marty, Frédéric |
| Abstract: | Mergers and acquisitions shape industry competition. Effective merger remedies are important for market efficiency and consumer welfare. This paper explores the need for more flexible remedies to address changing markets after mergers. While the EU permits some flexibility with less restrictive remedies, we conceptually advance the design elements of a dual-phase, bifurcated merger control system. This system integrates ex-ante processes with more systematic and comprehensive ex-post measures. Such an approach can address the shortcomings of the current system and, consequently, holds the potential to enhance merger control in dynamic markets. |
| Keywords: | merger remedies, competition authorities, market dynamics, dynamic competition, oligopolies, innovation effects, European Union |
| JEL: | L41 K21 L13 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuiedp:181&r=law |
| By: | Jones, Todd R. (Mississippi State University); Karger, Ezra (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Criminal activity is seasonal, peaking in the summer and declining through the winter. We provide the first evidence that arrests of children and reported crimes involving children follow a different pattern: peaking during the school year and declining in the summer. We use a regression discontinuity design surrounding the exact start and end dates of the school year to show that this pattern is caused by school: children aged 10–17 are roughly 50% more likely to be involved in a reported crime during the beginning of the school year relative to the weeks before school begins. This sharp increase is driven by student-on-student crimes occurring in school and during school hours. We use the timing of these patterns and a seasonal adjustment to argue that school increases reported crime rates (and arrests) involving 10–17-year-old offenders by 47% (41%) annually relative to a counterfactual where crime rates follow typical seasonal patterns. School exacerbates preexisting sex-based and race-based inequality in reported crime and arrest rates, increasing both the Black-white and male-female gap in reported juvenile crime and arrest rates by more than 40%. |
| Keywords: | school, crime, academic calendar, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | I2 K4 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16506&r=law |
| By: | Christophe Bravard (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Jacques Durieu (CREG - Centre de recherche en économie de Grenoble - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Jurjen Kamphorst (Erasmus School of Economics - Erasmus University Rotterdam); Sebastian Roché (PACTE - Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - IEPG - Sciences Po Grenoble - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Stéphan Sémirat (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes) |
| Abstract: | Even among themselves, criminals are not seen as trustworthy. Consequently, a criminal organization needs to incentivize its members, either by threats of violence or by rewarding good behavior. The cost of using violence depends on the resources police allocate to investigating intraorganizational violence. This means that the police may affect the choice of an incentive scheme by the criminal organization. The design of the optimal strategy for crime control has to take this into account. We develop a model of an infinitely repeated criminal labor market where (i) a criminal organization hires and incentivizes members, and (ii) peripheral crime (crime outside the criminal organization) is a stepping stone to a career in organized crime. We establish that there are two possible optimal strategies for the police. (i) There are situations in which the optimal strategy for the police is to use all of their resources to decrease the efficiency of criminals. (ii) In other situations, the optimal strategy for the police is to spend the minimum amount of resources to ensure that the criminal organization cannot punish disloyal criminals, and spend the rest of their resources to decrease the efficiency of criminals. |
| Keywords: | Incentives mechanisms, Organized crime, Police policy |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04217121&r=law |
| By: | W. Bentley MacLeod |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper extends the Becker (1968)-Ehrlich (1973) model of crime to allow for government transfers. Using the Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984) model, it is shown that one can view deterrence as a tax on (criminal) labor supply. That in turn allows an integration of a crime model with a standard public finance model. Using King et al. (1988) preferences, it is shown that when individuals are needy or desperate the income effect may dominate the substitution effect. The is that policies undertaken with the intent of deterring crime may, unintuitively, lead to an increase in crime. This provides an alternative to to Becker (1968)'s explanation for persistent crime levels. The results are also consistent with recent research showing that extending social welfare programs can reduce crime. Finally, the policy that minimizes net social costs is characterized by a combination of deterrence and transfers to reduce inequality. This result illustrates how Posner (1973)'s criteria of wealth maximization can imply that reducing inequality is a part of optimal crime policy. |
| JEL: | J20 K14 K40 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31786&r=law |
| By: | Yu, Hongwei; Chen, Wenjin; Wang, Xinyi; Delina, Laurence; Cheng, Zhiming; Zhang, Le |
| Abstract: | We employ a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to investigate the causal effect of China's Energy Conservation Law (ECL) on the energy efficiency of Chinese firms. Using data from the 2018 China Employer-Employee Survey (CEES), we find that the energy regulation has a positive impact on enterprise energy efficiency. Furthermore, we observe that the effects of the regulation vary across industries, ownership types, and firm ages. We also find that energy management system (EnMS) and technological innovation are mechanisms through which the energy regulation helps improve enterprise energy efficiency. These findings underscore the importance of well-designed and effectively implemented energy regulations in fostering energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in the industrial sector. They also highlight the need to consider the heterogeneity of the regulatory impact when designing energy-saving policies. |
| Keywords: | Energy Conservation Law, energy regulation, energy efficiency, China, regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | K32 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1339&r=law |
| By: | Dziadula, Eva; Zavodny, Madeline |
| Abstract: | This study explores the role of individual and local marriage market characteristics in whether recently wed U.S. residents "imported" a spouse instead of marrying someone already present in the country. Our findings indicate that U.S. natives and immigrants whose spouse is a "marriage migrant" (someone who arrived in the U.S. the same year as the marriage occurred) are positively selected along some dimensions but negatively along others. The results also suggest that U.S. immigration policy plays an important role in whether immigrants bring in a spouse. We further investigate the trade-offs in spouse characteristics associated with having a marriage-migrant spouse. There appear to be several advantages to marrying a migrant, including that marriage-migrant spouses tend to be relatively younger and less likely to have been previously married. Immigrants' gains to marrying a migrant are bigger among naturalized citizens, showcasing the desirability of someone who can easily sponsor a spouse for permanent residence. |
| Keywords: | immigration, marriage markets, assortative matching |
| JEL: | J12 J15 K37 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1334&r=law |