Exposure to Law Enforcement and Deterrence

Christian Traxler

Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), 2025, vol. 181, issue 1, 81-95

Abstract: This paper explores how direct and indirect exposure to law enforcement activities shape deterrent effects. Focusing on experimental and quasi-experimental research from economics (mainly from domains such as tax evasion, traffic violations, and financial crimes), I first summarize evidence showing how personal experiences shape perceptions about enforcement risks and sanctions, and deter future offenses. The paper then turns to the role of vicarious experiences. I discuss the growing body of evidence documenting enforcement spillovers, i.e., cases where individuals learn and adapt based on observations or experiences shared by peers, co-workers, or neighbors. The paper also highlights the importance of better understanding the underlying learning processes for deriving policy implications.

Keywords: perceptual deterrence; learning; updating (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D80 D83 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1628/jite-2025-0005

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