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Identity in Court Decision-Making

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We explore the role of identity along multiple dimensions in high-stakes decisionmaking. Our data contain information about demographic and socioeconomic indicators for randomly assigned jurors and defendants in a Swedish court. Our results show that defendants are 15 percent less likely to get a prison sentence if they and the jurors belong to the same identity-forming groups. Socioeconomic background and demographic attributes are at least as important, and combining several identities produces stronger effects.

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  • Ahrsjö, Ulrika & Niknami, Susan & Palme, Mårten, 2022. "Identity in Court Decision-Making," Working Paper Series 4/2022, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2022_004
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