Local governments suspected of Mafia infiltration can be dismissed in Italy through an administrative act not increasing formal deterrence but potentially signaling improved law enforcement among local communities. This paper finds that dismissals are associated to a persistent fall of petty...

Siendo una nota característica de la UE su configuración como sistema casi federal que se acompaña de técnicas de cooperación avanzadas, el estudio empírico de los modelos de integración existentes en algunos Estados de corte federal puede ser de gran ayuda como experiencia de aprendizaje...

In this chapter, I briefly discuss theoretical predictions of capital punishment’s impact on crime, provide a concise history of the death penalty in the US, and review both the early and recent empirical literature

In an era of scarce public resources, many jurisdictions are being forced to take drastic measures to address severe budgetary constraints on the administration of criminal justice. As prosecutors’ offices around the nation are being scaled back and enforcement priorities are being narrowed,...

Criminal sentencing policy has moved into the spotlight over the last two decades, as determinate sentencing and greater democratic oversight have brought new scrutiny to the question of how we punish. Much of the focus has been on two facts: first, that the United States incarcerates a...

The standard economic theory of crime deterrence predicts that the conviction of an innocent (type-I error) is as detrimental to deterrence as the acquittal of a guilty individual (type-II error). In this paper, we qualify this result theoretically, showing that in the presence of risk aversion,...

The main purpose of this paper is the identification of criteria that justify the choice of (costly) criminal law enforcement over administrative or tort law to address harmful activities. Specifically, using a Law and Economics approach, this paper demonstrates when and why criminal law should...

The academic debate over the deterrent effect of capital punishment has intensified again with a major policy outcome at stake. About two dozen empirical studies have recently emerged that explore the issue. Donohue and Wolfers (2005) claim to have examined the recent studies and shown the...

Identity crime is on the increase in most jurisdictions and is a matter of concern to governments and financial institutions as well as victims. In a 2003 study the cost of identity fraud to Australia in 2001-2 was estimated to be $1.1 billion. Only 38% was identified as direct losses. The...

This article considers the social desirability of prison work programs in a model in which the function of imprisonment is to deter crime. Two types of prison work programs are studied — voluntary ones and mandatory ones. A voluntary work program is socially beneficial: if prisoners are paid a...