The Effects of Punishment of Crime in Colombia on Deterrence, Incapacitation, and Human Capital Formation

Arlen Guarin, Carlos Medina and Jorge Andres Tamayo ()

No IDB-WP-420, Research Department Publications from Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department

Abstract: Using individual data on persons arrested in the Medellin Metropolitan Area, this paper assesses whether the change in punishment at age 18, mandated by law, has a deterrent effect on arrests. No deterrent effect was found on index, violent or property crimes, but a deterrence effect was found on non-index crimes, specifically those related to drug consumption and trafficking. The change in criminal penalties at 18 years of age does not explain future differences in human capital formation among the population that had been arrested immediately after versus immediately before reaching 18 years of age. There is no evidence that the longer length of time to recidivate on the part of individuals arrested for the first time immediately after reaching 18 implies future differences in human capital formation. These results suggest a specific deterrence effect resulting from the harsher experience while in prison of those arrested right after reaching 18.

JEL-codes: D19 J24 K14 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hrm and nep-law
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.iadb.org/research/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=37872092 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://www.iadb.org/research/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=37872092 [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://www.iadb.org/research/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=37872092)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Effects of Punishment of Crime in Colombia on Deterrence, Incapacitation, and Human Capital Formation (2013)
Working Paper: The Effects of Punishment of Crime in Colombia on Deterrence, Incapacitation, and Human Capital Formation (2013)
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:idb:wpaper:idb-wp-420

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Research Department Publications from Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Felipe Herrera Library ().