Chapter 1 studies escalating fines for repeat offenders, that is, fine increases in the number of previous offenses. We demonstrate that a fine-setting authority does not in fact have an incentive to increase the fine for repeat offenders. However, if the authority has an interest in...

This paper provides an explanation for escalating prices and fines based on a unified analytical framework that nests monopoly pricing and optimal law enforcement. We show that escalation emerges as an optimal outcome if the principal (i) lacks commitment ability, and (ii) gives less than full...

This paper shows that escalating fines emerge in a generalized version of the canonical Becker (1968) model if the authority (i) conditions optimal fines on offender histories, and (ii) does not fully credit offender gains to social welfare. We demonstrate that escalation is driven by decreasing...