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A Note on Optimal Law Enforcement with Legal Aid

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  • Garoupa, Nuno
  • Stephen, Frank

Abstract

The economic literature on enforcement is generally pessimistic concerning the use of legal aid. In this Paper we show that legal aid can be part of optimal law enforcement. The rationale behind our result is that with legal aid, in a system with legal or judicial error, both guilty and innocent individuals are better off because the marginal cost of defense expenditure is reduced. If, on average, legal aid helps the innocent more than the guilty a government seeking to maximize social welfare will want to use it in order to increase deterrence.

Suggested Citation

  • Garoupa, Nuno & Stephen, Frank, 2003. "A Note on Optimal Law Enforcement with Legal Aid," CEPR Discussion Papers 4113, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4113
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sanction; Self-reporting; Legal aid;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

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