Crime, prosecutors, and the certainty of conviction

Horst Entorf and Hannes Spengler ()
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Hannes Spengler: University of Applied Sciences Mainz

European Journal of Law and Economics, 2015, vol. 39, issue 1, No 11, 167-201

Abstract: Abstract This paper tests predictions of a structural, augmented supply-of-offenders model regarding the relative effects of police, public prosecution and courts, respectively, on crime. Using detailed data on the different stages of the criminal prosecution process in Germany, empirical evidence suggests that public prosecutors and their influence on the probability of conviction play a major role in explaining the variation of crime rates, while the impact of the severity of punishment is small and insignificant.

Keywords: General deterrence; Certainty of punishment; Public prosecution; Panel econometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 K14 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Crime, Prosecutors, and the Certainty of Conviction (2011)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10657-012-9380-x

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