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Black Sheep or Scapegoats? Implementable Monitoring Policies under Unobservable Levels of Misbehavior

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  • Berno Buechel
  • Gerd Muehlheusser

Abstract

An authority delegates a monitoring task to an agent. It can only observe the number of detected offenders, but neither the monitoring intensity chosen by the agent nor the resulting level of misbehavior. We provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the implementability of monitoring policies. Typically, several monitoring intensities give rise to the same number of detected offenses, and only the minimum of these can be implemented. In equilibrium, a large fraction of potential offenders cannot be deterred.

Suggested Citation

  • Berno Buechel & Gerd Muehlheusser, 2014. "Black Sheep or Scapegoats? Implementable Monitoring Policies under Unobservable Levels of Misbehavior," CESifo Working Paper Series 4698, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4698
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    Cited by:

    1. Buechel, Berno & Feess, Eberhard & Muehlheusser, Gerd, 2020. "Optimal law enforcement with sophisticated and naïve offenders," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 836-857.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monitoring; deterrence; unobservable misbehavior; victimless crime; doping; law & economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption

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