|
on Law and Economics |
| By: | Johnsen, Julian V. (SNF, Bergen); Khoury, Laura (PSL Université Paris Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | Peer interactions play a key role in the criminal sector due to its secrecy and lack of formal institutions. A significant part of criminal peer exposure happens in prison, directly influenced by policymakers. This paper provides a broader understanding of how peer effects shape criminal behavior among prison inmates, focusing on co-inmate impacts on recidivism and criminal network formation. Using Norwegian register data on over 140, 000 prison spells, we causally identify peer effects through within-prison variation in peers over time. Our analysis reveals several new insights. First, exposure to more experienced co-inmates increases recidivism. Second, exposure to "top criminals" (i.e. those with extreme levels of criminal experience) plays a distinctive role in shaping these recidivism patterns. Third, inmates form lasting criminal networks, as proxied by post-incarceration co-offending. Fourth, homophily intensifies these peer effects. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of peer influences in criminal activities and offer practical insights for reducing recidivism through strategic inmate grouping and prison management policies. |
| Keywords: | prison inmates, incarceration, criminal behavior, criminal experi- ence, criminal networks, recidivism |
| JEL: | K14 K42 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17114 |
| By: | Cai, Xiqian (Xiamen University); Chen, Shuai (University of Leicester); Cheng, Zhengquan (Xiamen University) |
| Abstract: | Gender inequality and discrimination still persist, even though the gender gap in the labor market has been gradually decreasing. This study examines the effect of the #MeToo movement on judges' gender gap in their vital labor market outcome–judicial decisions on randomly assigned legal cases in China. We apply a difference-in-differences approach to unique verdict data including rich textual information on characteristics of cases and judges, and compare changes in sentences of judges of a different gender after the movement. We find that female judges made more severe decisions post-movement, which almost closed the gender gap. Moreover, we explore a potential mechanism of gender norms, documenting evidence for improved awareness of gender equality among women following the movement and stronger effects on judges' gender gap reduction in regions with better awareness of gender equality. This implies that female judges became willing to stand out and speak up, converging to their male counterparts after the #MeToo movement. |
| Keywords: | #MeToo movement, gender gap, inequality, judicial decision, crime, machine learning |
| JEL: | J16 K14 O12 P35 D63 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17115 |
| By: | Roxana Guti\'errez-Romero |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effectiveness of femicide laws in combating gender-based killings of women, a major cause of premature female mortality globally. Focusing on Mexico, a pioneer in adopting such legislation, the paper leverages variations in the enactment of femicide laws and associated prison sentences across states. Using the difference-in-difference estimator, the analysis reveals that these laws have not significantly affected the incidence of femicides, homicides of women, or reports of women who have disappeared. These findings remain robust even when accounting for differences in prison sentencing, whether states also implemented unilateral divorce laws, or decriminalized abortion alongside femicide legislation. The results suggest that legislative measures are insufficient to address violence against women in settings where impunity prevails. |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2407.06722 |
| By: | Tom Kirchmaier; Ekaterina Oparina |
| Abstract: | Partners or family members are responsible for nearly half of the women killed each year in the UK, and many of these deaths follow long periods of domestic abuse. Yet in recent years, the rate of statement withdrawal by victims of such violence has been rising. Tom Kirchmaier and Ekaterina Oparina highlight the potential role of police workload. |
| Keywords: | Crime, domestic abuse, Police |
| Date: | 2024–06–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:681 |
| By: | Francesco Parisi (University of Minnesota); Ram Singh (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | While the right to a trial by an impartial jury remains a cornerstone of the Anglo-American legal tradition, the modus operandi of a “trial by jury” in the United States has been in constant flux. During the last 125 years, twenty-eight states in the U.S. reduced the size of their juries, while three others allowed non-unanimous verdicts in felony and/or misdemeanor cases. Blackstonian ratios and burdens of proof exhibited similar variations across jurisdiction. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court cast a critical eye on non-unanimous juries and reintroduced the requirement of unanimity for all felony convictions. In 2023, jury size also received scrutiny from the U.S. Supreme Court, underscoring the enduring volatility of criminal jury practices in the United States. Currently, states retain autonomy to determine the composition of their juries and to determine the Blackstonian ratios that their respective jurisdictions are to follow. In this paper, we expose the critical interdependence between these elements to assess how these variations in jury structure affect the accuracy and decisiveness of the jury process. We further show how the tradeoff between different combinations of jury size and burdens of proof is affected by the prosecutorial selectivity and the frequency with which hung-jury mistrials are brought up for a retrial. JEL Code: K0, K4 |
| Keywords: | jury size, standard of proof, Blackstonian ratios, mistrial, prosecutorial selectivity |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:350 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Leniency programmes are a powerful detection tool for competition authorities. Over the period 2015-2021, the number of leniency applications in OECD jurisdictions dropped by 58% and the same trend can be observed across most regions. This Note explores whether and to what extent the drop in leniency applications may constitute a threat to cartel enforcement and the possible reasons behind the declining trends. It was prepared as a background note for discussions on “The Future of Effective Leniency Programmes: Advancing Detection and Deterrence of Cartels” taking place at the June 2023 session of the OECD Competition Committee’s Working Party No. 3 on Co-operation and Enforcement. |
| Date: | 2023–06–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dafaac:299-en |
| By: | Artz, Benjamin (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh); Welsch, David M. (University of Wisconsin. Whitewater) |
| Abstract: | We employ a unique 10-year panel dataset from California to examine both the effect crime has on homelessness as well as the effect homelessness has on crime. Our main estimator accounts for endogeneity by incorporating dynamics, controlling for time invariant unobserved heterogeneity, and relaxing the strict exogeneity assumption for our key variables of interest. We find strong evidence that regions experiencing increases in property crime, but not violent crime, should expect a practically significant increase in homelessness, whereas increases in homelessness increases the number of violent crimes, but not property crimes. Robustness and falsification checks confirm the results. |
| Keywords: | homeless, crime, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | K14 R20 C23 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17086 |
| By: | Zachary Porreca |
| Abstract: | I analyze the demand side impacts of a supply side intervention into the market for illegal drugs in what has been described as America’s largest open air drug market. Beginning in 2018, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office and the Philadelphia Police Department engaged in an ambitious effort to shut down the drug market in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. The intervention involved increased police presence in the targeted area alongside a series of targeted “kingpin” sweeps which were intended to remove the most pervasive operators from the market. I employ highly granular Safegraph cell phone location data to track changes in traffic flows between census block groups, observing that the initiative led to sizable and persistent reductions in traffic flows to the target area. Additionally, in contrast to substitution effects observed in other work, I observe that the initiative led to reductions in traffic flows to other regional drug markets and large declines in overdose mortality in the Philadelphia metropolitan area as a whole, suggesting a genuine reduction in the demand for illegal narcotics. With a combination of theory and empirics, I argue that this reduction in regional demand is able to be achieved due to the initiative disrupting a supply-chain that data indicates flows from the target area outwards to smaller satellite markets. Together this all suggests that, despite the inelastic demand for narcotics, regionally linked markets can be impacted broadly by location specific interventions. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp24227 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews how competition authorities have incorporated innovation as part of their assessment in enforcement cases. It explores scenarios that have considered innovation from a static perspective, mostly analysing current and potential competition in well-identified product markets (incentives-based approach), as well as scenarios that have considered innovation from a dynamic perspective, often defining innovation markets (impact-based approach). It also looks at cases that have considered increases in innovation as potential justifications for decreases in competition. This note reviews how these different approaches have shaped market definition, the theories of harm considered, and even the design of remedies and commitments. |
| Date: | 2023–10–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dafaac:301-en |
| By: | Roxana Guti\'errez-Romero; Nayely Iturbe |
| Abstract: | Mexico has experienced a notable surge in assassinations of political candidates and mayors. This article argues that these killings are largely driven by organized crime, aiming to influence candidate selection, control local governments for rent-seeking, and retaliate against government crackdowns. Using a new dataset of political assassinations in Mexico from 2000 to 2021 and instrumental variables, we address endogeneity concerns in the location and timing of government crackdowns. Our instruments include historical Chinese immigration patterns linked to opium cultivation in Mexico, local corn prices, and U.S. illicit drug prices. The findings reveal that candidates in municipalities near oil pipelines face an increased risk of assassination due to drug trafficking organizations expanding into oil theft, particularly during elections and fuel price hikes. Government arrests or killings of organized crime members trigger retaliatory violence, further endangering incumbent mayors. This political violence has a negligible impact on voter turnout, as it targets politicians rather than voters. However, voter turnout increases in areas where authorities disrupt drug smuggling, raising the chances of the local party being re-elected. These results offer new insights into how criminal groups attempt to capture local governments and the implications for democracy under criminal governance. |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2407.06733 |
| By: | Andrew Caplin; Andrei Gomberg; Joyce Sadka |
| Abstract: | We demonstrate that cognitive constraints produce injustice in its most paradigmatic form: incorrect verdicts in judicial trials. Responding to a request for help, we conducted a field study in Mexican labor courts in which time pressure on the judges leads to their making mistakes, many of which are appealed. All we did was to index pages to random case files to help judges quickly find relevant information. We made no other changes whatsoever. Our treatment greatly reduced successful appeals, fully 50% in complex cases, and resulted in judicial opinions that were shorter and more on point. These findings have already informed recent reforms in Mexico's labor court procedures and have broader applicability. |
| JEL: | D8 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32587 |
| By: | Elizabeth U. Cascio; Paul Cornell; Ethan G. Lewis |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effects of permanent legal status on the health of children born to immigrants in the United States using variation from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). Our empirical approach compares trends in birth outcomes for foreign-born Mexican mothers across counties with different application rates under IRCA’s large-scale legalization programs. Maternal legalization raised birthweight. Effects arose immediately after the application process began – five years before affected women became Medicaid-eligible – suggesting causal mechanisms besides improved access to early prenatal care. Changes in the composition of births, stemming from changes in fertility and family reunification, contribute to but far from fully explain the birthweight impacts. The more likely mechanisms were instead the increases in family income and reductions in stress that came from gaining legal status. |
| JEL: | I13 I14 I18 J15 J61 K37 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32635 |