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The Economics of Crime Deterrence: A Survey of Theory and Evidence

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Author Info
Cameron, Samuel
Abstract

Economists have generally supposed that certainty and severity of punishment deter crime and have been surprised whenever this is not confirmed by empirical word. This paper gives a number of explanations, consistent with economic theory, as to why there need not be a contradiction here. The empirical work is reviewed with the conclusion that economists have yet to convincingly demonstrate the case for deterrence. In conclusion, a number of potentially fruitful areas for future research within the deterrence paradigm are suggested. Copyright 1988 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Blackwell Publishing in its journal Kyklos.

Volume (Year): 41 (1988)
Issue (Month): 2 ()
Pages: 301-23
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Handle: RePEc:bla:kyklos:v:41:y:1988:i:2:p:301-23

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  1. Matti Virén, 2000. "Modelling Crime and Punishment," VATT Discussion Papers 244, Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT). [Downloadable!]
  2. Nuno Garoupa, 1998. "Crime and Punishment: Further Results," Economics Working Papers 344, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
  3. Steven D. Levitt, 2004. "Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors That Explain the Decline and Six That Do Not," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 163-190, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Steven D. Levitt, 1995. "Why Do Increased Arrest Rates Appear to Reduce Crime: Deterrence, Incapacitation, or Measurement Error?," NBER Working Papers 5268, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Steven D. Levitt, 1995. "Using Electoral Cycles in Police Hiring to Estimate the Effect of Policeon Crime," NBER Working Papers 4991, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Paresh Kumar Narayan & Russell Smyth, 2006. "Dead man walking: an empirical reassessment of the deterrent effect of capital punishment using the bounds testing approach to cointegration," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 38(17), pages 1975-1989, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Caruso, Raul, 2008. "Spesa Pubblica E Criminalità Organizzata In Italia Evidenza Empirica Su Dati Panel Nel Periodo 1997-2003," MPRA Paper 6861, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Guido Travaglini, 2005. "Property Crime and Law Enforcement in Italy. A Regional Panel Analysis 1980-95," Econometrics 0512001, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Kenneth Burdett & Ricardo Lagos & Randall Wright, 2003. "Crime, Inequality, and Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1764-1777, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Steven D. Levitt, 1997. "Juvenile Crime and Punishment," NBER Working Papers 6191, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. John J. Donohue III & Steven D. Levitt, 1998. "The Impact of Race on Policing, Arrest Patterns, and Crime," NBER Working Papers 6784, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Ian Ayres & Steven D. Levitt, 1997. "Measuring Positive Externalities from Unobservable Victim Precaution: An Empirical Analysis of Lojack," NBER Working Papers 5928, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Lance Lochner, 2003. "Individual Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System," NBER Working Papers 9474, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Justina A.V. Fischer, 2005. "The Impact of Direct Democracy on Crime: Is the Median Voter Boundedly Rational?," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2005 2005-14, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
  15. Daniel Kessler & Steven D. Levitt, 1998. "Using Sentence Enhancements to Distinguish between Deterrence and Incapacitation," NBER Working Papers 6484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Laurens Cherchye & Bruno De Borger & Tom Van Puyenbroeck, 2004. "Nonparametric tests of optimizing behavior in public service provision: Methodology and an application to local safety," Public Economics Working Paper Series ces0416, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centrum voor Economische Studiën, Working Group Public Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Jonathan Klick & Alexander Tabarrok, . "Using Terror Alert Levels to Estimate the Effect of Police on Crime," American Law & Economics Association Annual Meetings 1042, American Law & Economics Association. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Kenneth Burdett & Ricardo Lagos & Randall Wright, 2002. "Crime, Inequality, and Unemployment, Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 03-029, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 01 Sep 2003. [Downloadable!]
  19. Angela K. Dills & Jeffrey A. Miron & Garrett Summers, 2008. "What Do Economists Know About Crime?," NBER Working Papers 13759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Paolo Buonanno, 2003. "The Socioeconomic Determinants of Crime. A Review of the Literature," Working Papers 63, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2003. [Downloadable!]
  21. Steven Levitt, 2002. "Testing the Economic Model of Crime:The National Hockey League's Two-Referee Experiment," Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1014-1014. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Rafael Di Tella & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2004. "Do Police Reduce Crime? Estimates Using the Allocation of Police Forces after a Terrorist Attack," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 115-133, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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