We study spillover effects within co-offending networks by leveraging deaths of co-offenders for causal identification. Our results demonstrate that the death of a co-offender significantly reduces the criminal activities of other network members. We observe a decaying pattern in the magnitude...

Peer interactions play a key role in the criminal sector due to its secrecy and lack of formal institutions. A significant part of criminal peer exposure happens in prison, directly influenced by policymakers. This paper provides a broader understanding of how peer effects shape criminal...

Inmates' informal code often ascribes low status to persons perceived as passive homosexuals. We use longitudinal data to investigate whether prison experience contributes to anti-gay beliefs. We find that prison experience prompts a higher level of anti-gay sentiments among males and their...

Inmates' informal code regulates their behavior and attitudes. We investigate whether prisons contribute to the spread of these norms to the general population using an exogenous shock of the Soviet amnesty of 1953, which released 1.2 million prisoners. We document the spread of prison norms in...

Perception of white-collar crime seriousness varies from unfortunate incidents that can be excused to a major crime that needs harsh punishment. Students at a university in Romania were asked about their perceptions of seriousness. On a scale from 1 (not serious) to 7 (extremely serious) most...

When decision-makers overemphasize salient features under limited attention, biased decisions can result in settings in which decisions should be unbiased. We exploit a sudden shock in the salience of individuals of Moroccan descent in the Netherlands to test the vulnerability of decisions of...

Weltweit ist fast jedes zweite Unternehmen von Wirtschaftskriminalität betroffen. Neben einem Vertrauensverlust und Reputationsschäden führt Wirtschaftskriminalität zu finanziellen Einbußen und erheblichem Mehraufwand für Ermittlungen, Folge- und Präventionsmaßnahmen. Zur Reduktion von...

When decision-makers overemphasize salient features under limited attention, biased decisions can result in settings in which decisions should be unbiased. We exploit a sudden shock in the salience of individuals of Moroccan descent in the Netherlands to test the vulnerability of decisions of...

Electronic monitoring (EM) has emerged as a popular tool for curbing the growth of large prison populations. Evidence on the causal effects of EM on criminal recidivism is, however, limited and it is unclear how this alternative to incarceration affects the labor supply of offenders and the...

This paper uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to study the relationship between job displacement and the probability of arrest and incarceration among young adults. Results show that displacement is associated with increases in the probability of arrest and incarceration. The...

One of the main inquiry topics within crime and conflict studies is how inequalities or poverty fosters or deters participation in organised violence. Since the late 1990s, the increase in violence in Latin America has boosted the use of Global North criminology and conflict studies to explain...

Increasing evidence suggests that incarceration can improve the social reintegration of inmates in some circumstances. Yet, the mechanisms through which incarceration may favor rehabilitation remain largely unknown. This paper exploits variations in program availability in Quebec (Canada) to...

This article discusses the constitutional rights that insulin-dependent diabetics should be afforded while incarcerated within the Louisiana Department of Corrections facilities. The author bases this case note on Marlowe v LeBlanc, which is currently on appeal. Marlowe alleges multiple...

Most of the 600,000 adults returning to the community from state and federal prisons annually in the U.S. carry substantial debt, have low income and low education, and limited formal employment prior to entering prison. Upon reentry, they face financial hardship, high rates of morbidity and...

A global trend towards the imposition of criminal convictions without trial has been described as one of the key features of contemporary criminal procedure. Such phenomenon is referred to as "administratization" of criminal convictions, and it is characterized by the reliance on plea bargaining...

We study the labor market impacts of retroactively reducing felonies to misdemeanors in San Joaquin County, CA, where criminal justice agencies implemented Proposition 47 reductions in a quasi-random order, without requiring input or action from affected individuals. Linking records of...

We estimate the causal impact of access to means-tested public health insurance coverage (Medicaid) on health outcomes and recidivism for those recently released from incarceration. To do so, we leverage a policy change in South Carolina that allowed simplified Medicaid re-enrollment for...

Penology in the Jim Crow South centered on the chain gang. Gangs ostensibly served three purposes: their severity served as a deterrent; their putting convicts to work on roads and other public improvements reduced the taxpayers’ costs of infrastructure; and their discriminatory implementation...

We study the effects of laws streamlining access to post-conviction forensic DNA technology ("DNA laws"). We present a conceptual framework in which DNA laws' effects differ by race due to unequal access to non-DNA exoneration technologies. Consistent with the framework's predictions, we find...

Domestic abuse is a pervasive global problem. Here we analyze two approaches to reducing violent DA recidivism. One involves charging the perpetrator with a crime; the other provides protective services to the victim on the basis of a formal risk assessment carried out by the police. We use...

We measure the impact of murders on prices and rents of homes in Sydney. We find that housing prices fall by 3.9 per cent for homes within 0.2 miles of the murder in the year following the murder, and weaker results in the second year after a murder. We do not find any effects of murders on...

Domestic abuse is a pervasive global problem. Here we analyze two approaches to reducing violent DA recidivism. One involves charging the perpetrator with a crime; the other provides protective services to the victim on the basis of a formal risk assessment carried out by the police. We use...

The U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, with over seven million admissions to jails each year. Incarcerated individuals are the only group in the U.S. that have a constitutional right to receiving "reasonably adequate" health care. Yet, there is little oversight and...

We examine the short- and medium-term effects of announcements of changes in anti-crime policies in the distant future (news shocks) and provide a first extension of the analysis to cases where the announced policy changes may not be realized in the end (noise shocks). We further innovate by...

We provide a selective survey of the literature on profiling by criminal justice agents, including changes in the nature of discrimination resulting from the proliferation of algorithms for prediction. We argue for a taxonomy of harms that differs somewhat from the conventional approach taken by...

This paper estimates teachers’ impacts on their students’ future criminal justice contact (CJC). Using a unique data set linking the universe of North Carolina public school data to administrative arrest records, we find a standard deviation of teacher effects on students’ future arrests...

Large scale rural-to-urban migration and China's household registration system have resulted in about 61 million children being left-behind in rural villages when their parents migrate to the cities. This paper uses survey and experimental data from male rural-urban migrants prison inmates and...

Many states have passed laws to limit the supply of prescription opioids in response to the opioid crisis. Prominent among these laws are Prescription Drug Monitoring programs (PDMPs) and Pain Medicine Clinic Laws or Pill ”Mill” Laws (PMLs). PDMPs provide an avenue for medical professionals...

Introduction: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among incarcerated populations, and the risk of fatal overdose following release from prison is substantial. Despite efficacy, few correctional facilities provide evidence-based addiction treatment. Extended-release injectable...

State and local policies increasingly restrict employers’ access to criminal records, but without addressing the underlying reasons that employers may conduct criminal background checks. Employers may thus still want to ask about a job applicant’s criminal record later in the hiring process...

We examine 70,581 felony court cases filed in Chicago, IL during the period 1990-2007. We exploit case randomization to assess the impact of judge assignment and sentencing decisions on the arrival rates of new charges. Relative to prior research, we document an important source of heterogeneity...

A staggering number of Americans experience criminal justice contact each year, ranging from arrest to long-term incarceration. One 2014 Wall Street Journal report estimated that approximately one in three Americans are represented in the FBI’s master criminal database. Many scholars and...

This study uses longitudinal data on a cohort of individuals exiting prison in North Carolina to examine the relationship between post-release employment and subsequent criminal justice contact. Individuals who found employment shortly after exiting prison in 2016 were significantly less likely...