The rate of incarceration has increased dramatically in the U.S. since 1980. We explore the implications of this increased incarceration on national poverty measurement using micro data for the period 1979-1997. We make use of an as-yet unexplored data set on prisoner earnings, in conjunction...

Eine Analyse amtlicher Daten für die Jahre 1977 bis 2001 liefert deutliche Anzeichen für die Wirksamkeit polizeilicher Arbeit und gerichtlicher Sanktionen. Als wichtigster kriminalitätsreduzierender Faktor erwies sich die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Aufklärung von Straftaten und der Verurteilung...

Kriminal-, Sozial- und Gesundheitspolitik haben die undankbare Aufgabe, bei ihren Entscheidungen zwischen zwei großen Kostenblöcken abwägen zu müssen, die einerseits in den gesellschaftlichen Kosten des Kriminalitätsrisikos durch psychisch kranke Tätergruppen, und auf der anderen Seite in...

Die vorliegende Dokumentation beinhaltet eine länderspezifische Spezialauswertung einer bundesweiten Feldstudie. Die Erhebung über die Situation der Inhaftierten, der Anstalten und eine vergleichende Analyse der Bundesländer stellen eine in diesem Umfang wohl bisher einzigartige Evaluation...

This paper uses a unique data set constructed from two sets of administrative records to examine the relationship between incarceration and employment rates for former female state prisoners from Illinois. Our analysis indicates that although prison is associated with declining employment rates...

Does the death penalty save lives? A surge of recent interest in this question has yielded a series of papers purporting to show robust and precise estimates of a substantial deterrent effect of capital punishment. We assess the various approaches that have been used in this literature, testing...

In this paper we test for the theory of deterrence. We exploit the natural experiment provided by the Collective Clemency Bill passed by the Italian Parliament in July 2006. As a consequence of the provisions of the bill, expected punishment to former inmates recommitting a crime can be...

We use a unique data set on post-release behavior of former Italian inmates to estimate the effect of prison conditions on recidivism. By combining different sources of data we exploit variation in prison conditions measured by: 1) the extent of overcrowding at the prison level, 2) the number of...

Do criminals maximise money? Are criminals more or less selfish than the average subject? Can prisons apply measures that reduce the degree of selfishness of their inmates? Using a tried and tested tool from experimental economics, we cast new light on these old criminological questions. In a...

During the 1980s a set of randomized experiments were carried out to determine the usefulness of a mandatory arrest policy for domestic assault offenders. The first of these was the Minneapolis Domestic Violence experiment (MDVE), which was carried out in 1981. This paper re-examines the data...