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Women Behind Bars: Do Single-Gender Prisons Reduce Recidivism?

Author

Listed:
  • Calamunci, Francesca
  • Daniele, Gianmarco
  • Mastrobuoni, Giovanni
  • Terlizzese, Daniele

Abstract

In 143 countries incarcerated women serve their sentence in a typically small separate section within prisons that mainly house male inmates, while 79 countries have prisons exclusively dedicated to women. Exploiting data from Italy, where both prison types coexist, and a quasi-random institutional assignment rule, we find that women-only prisons lower three-year recidivism by up to 16 percentage points. We use policy-relevant treatment effects to identify the optimal location of an additional women-only prison. As for the mechanisms, a driver is the presence of a large enough number of women for a given facility.

Suggested Citation

  • Calamunci, Francesca & Daniele, Gianmarco & Mastrobuoni, Giovanni & Terlizzese, Daniele, 2025. "Women Behind Bars: Do Single-Gender Prisons Reduce Recidivism?," CEPR Discussion Papers 20236, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20236
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    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP20236
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures

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