Homicides and the Age of Criminal Responsibility: A Density Discontinuity Approach

Francisco Costa, João de Faria, Felipe Iachan and Bárbara Caballero

No k276w, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: We employ a density discontinuity design to evaluate the deterrence effect of more severe punishments around the legal age of criminal responsibility in Brazil. Motivated by the criminology literature, we propose a novel proxy based on the inherent risk underlying criminal activities. Using violent death rates as a proxy for an individual's involvement in violent crime, we find no discernible deterrence effects. We additionally study arrest data from the country's third most populous state, Rio de Janeiro, and discuss the advantages of our proxy in light of potential underreporting biases from using criminal records.

Date: 2018-03-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law
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Related works:
Journal Article: Homicides and the Age of Criminal Responsibility: A Density Discontinuity Approach (2018)
Working Paper: Homicides and the age of criminal responsibility: a density discontinuity approach (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:k276w

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/k276w

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