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Crime and Punishment Again: The Economic Approach with a Psychological Twist

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  • William T. Dickens

Abstract

Akerlof and Dickens (1982) suggested that in a model of criminal behavior which considered the effects of cognitive dissonance, increasing the severity of punishment could increase the crime rate. This paper demonstrates that that conjecture was correct. With cognitive dissonance, people may have to rationalize not committing crimes under normal circumstances if punishment is not severe. The rationalization may lead them to underestimate the expected utility of committing crimes when opportunities present themselves. If punishment is severe, then rationalization may not be necessary and people may be more likely to commit crimes when opportunities arise.

Suggested Citation

  • William T. Dickens, 1986. "Crime and Punishment Again: The Economic Approach with a Psychological Twist," NBER Working Papers 1884, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1884
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    1. Akerlof, George A & Dickens, William T, 1982. "The Economic Consequences of Cognitive Dissonance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 307-319, June.
    2. Myers, Samuel L, Jr, 1980. "The Rehabilitation Effect of Punishment," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(3), pages 353-366, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Karen Pittel & Dirk Rübbelke, 2011. "Characteristics of Terrorism," Chapters, in: Derek L. Braddon & Keith Hartley (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Conflict, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Östling Robert, 2009. "Economic Influences on Moral Values," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-26, January.
    3. Saori Chiba & Kaiwen Leong, 2016. "Behavioral Economics of Crime Rates and Punishment Levels," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 172(4), pages 727-754, December.
    4. Feess, Eberhard & Sarel, Roee, 2022. "Optimal fine reductions for self-reporting: The impact of loss aversion," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Nir, A., 2004. "A Behavioral Model of Conumption Patterns : The Effects of Cognitive Dissonance and Conformity," Discussion Paper 2004-48, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    6. Matthew Rabin, 1998. "Psychology and Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 11-46, March.
    7. Ricardo J. Rodriguez, 1990. "Penalty Schedules and the Optimal Speed Limit," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 59-64, Jan-Mar.
    8. Gavrilets, Sergey & Tverskoi, Denis & Sánchez, Angel, 2023. "Modeling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics," SocArXiv n934a, Center for Open Science.
    9. Lamprinakis, Lampros & Fulton, Murray E., 2006. "Cognitive Dissonance and Customer Allegiance in a Mixed Oligopoly," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21228, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    10. Nir, A., 2004. "Cognitive Procedures and Hyperbolic Discounting," Other publications TiSEM e26d6ae0-fc76-4fb2-b845-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Larry Epstein & Igor Kopylov, 2006. "Cognitive Dissonance and Choice," RCER Working Papers 525, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
    12. Tatsuhito Kono & Masaya Okuno & Kazuho Yamaura, 2022. "Regional differences in cognitive dissonance in evacuation behavior at the time of the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 111(1), pages 139-162, March.
    13. James D. Montgomery, 1994. "Revisting Tally's Corner," Rationality and Society, , vol. 6(4), pages 462-488, October.
    14. Balestrino, Alessandro & Ciardi, Cinzia, 2008. "Social norms, cognitive dissonance and the timing of marriage," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2399-2410, December.
    15. Nir, A., 2004. "A Behavioral Model of Conumption Patterns : The Effects of Cognitive Dissonance and Conformity," Other publications TiSEM 11a84f9e-a1cc-4986-b927-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Roee Sarel, 2022. "Crime and punishment in times of pandemics," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 155-186, October.
    17. Nir, A., 2004. "Cognitive Procedures and Hyperbolic Discounting," Discussion Paper 2004-47, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    18. Matthew G. Nagler, 2023. "Thoughts matter: a theory of motivated preference," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 211-247, February.
    19. Kim, Jeong-Yoo, 2006. "Hyperbolic discounting and the repeated self-control problem," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 344-359, June.
    20. Johannes Idsø & Torbjørn Årethun, 2018. "Crime Statistics: Modeling Theft in Favour of Victims’ Choices," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-14, April.
    21. Marcelo Caffera & Carlos Chávez & Analia Ardente, 2013. "Does the structure of the fine matter?," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 1305, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..

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