Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature

Aaron Chalfin and Justin McCrary

Journal of Economic Literature, 2017, vol. 55, issue 1, 5-48

Abstract: We review economics research regarding the effect of police, punishments, and work on crime, with a particular focus on papers from the last twenty years. Evidence in favor of deterrence effects is mixed. While there is considerable evidence that crime is responsive to police and to the existence of attractive legitimate labor-market opportunities, there is far less evidence that crime responds to the severity of criminal sanctions. We discuss fruitful directions for future work and implications for public policy.

JEL-codes: J64 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jel.20141147
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (265)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20141147 (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/attachments?retrie ... h8qTWwwqNi475pYYpYDF (application/zip)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:55:y:2017:i:1:p:5-48

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Literature is currently edited by Steven Durlauf

More articles in Journal of Economic Literature from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().