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Crime, Punishment, and Recidivism

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  • W. David Allen

    (University of Alabama in Huntsville)

Abstract

Among the fundamental elements of the sport of ice hockey are the on-ice rules violations occasionally committed by players and the penalties assessed for those violations. During the 1998-99 season, the National Hockey League (NHL) for the first time experimented with the deployment of two on-ice referees for a selection of games instead of the customary single referee, significant in that only referees have the authority to call penalties. In this article, that experimental 1998-99 season provides the empirical setting for a test of the economic model of crime, which suggests that economic agents allocate time to legal and illegal activity by considering the benefits and costs of these activities. Here, those economic agents are NHL players. Empirically, relatively nonviolent illegal activity appears significantly influenced by benefits and costs, but particularly violent acts appear to occur more randomly. Particularly violent penalties increase when a second referee is deployed, suggesting a dominant “apprehension effect†rather than a dominant “deterrence effect†of what amounts to an increase in the presence of police.

Suggested Citation

  • W. David Allen, 2002. "Crime, Punishment, and Recidivism," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 3(1), pages 39-60, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:3:y:2002:i:1:p:39-60
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002502003001004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Julio del Corral & Juan Prieto-Rodríguez & Rob Simmons, 2010. "The Effect of Incentives on Sabotage: The Case of Spanish Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(3), pages 243-260, June.
    3. Carl Kitchens & Matthew Philip Makofske & Le Wang, 2019. "“Crime” on the Field," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 821-864, January.
    4. Babatunde Buraimo & David Forrest & Robert Simmons, 2007. "The Twelfth Man? Refereeing Bias in English and German Soccer," Working Papers 0707, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    5. Craig A. Depken & Peter A. Groothuis & Mark C. Strazicich, 2020. "Evolution Of Community Deterrence: Evidence From The National Hockey League," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(2), pages 289-303, April.
    6. Peter Dawson & Stephen Dobson & John Goddard & John Wilson, 2007. "Are football referees really biased and inconsistent?: evidence on the incidence of disciplinary sanction in the English Premier League," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 170(1), pages 231-250, January.
    7. Robert Witt, 2005. "Do Players React To Sanction Changes? Evidence From The English Premier League," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(4), pages 623-640, September.
    8. W. David Allen, 2005. "Cultures of Illegality in the National Hockey League," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(3), pages 494-513, January.
    9. Wilson, Dennis P., 2005. "Additional law enforcement as a deterrent to criminal behavior: empirical evidence from the National Hockey League," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 319-330, May.

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