Punishment should fit the crime: An assessment of the French reform of minimum mandatory penalties

Bruno Deffains (), Roberto Gabialti () and Sébastien Rouillon
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Bruno Deffains: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Roberto Gabialti: EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Roberto Galbiati

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Abstract: We study the effects of minimum mandatory sentences when judges are at least minimally averse to error and/or follow some "penalty should fit the crime" heuristic. We apply our analysis to the 2007 reform of the French Penal Code. We show that the introduction of minimum mandatory sentences in this context may backfire inducing more crime in the long run. Judges may prefer to acquit a criminal than convicting him to a sentence reputed too high.

Keywords: Law and economics; Crime; Punishment; Judge behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Published in Portuguese Economic Journal, 2009, 8, pp.161-175. ⟨10.1007/s10258-009-0050-z⟩

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Journal Article: Punishment should fit the crime: an assessment of the French reform of minimum mandatory penalties (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00391095

DOI: 10.1007/s10258-009-0050-z

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