Abstract
Economic models of crime and punishment implicitly assume that the government can credibly commit to the fines, sentences, and apprehension rates it has chosen. We study the government’s problem when credibility is an issue. We find that several of the standard predictions of the economic model are altered when commitment is taken into account. Specifically, when only fines are used, commitment results in a lower apprehension rate and hence a higher crime rate. However, when jail is used (with or without fines), apprehension rates and jail terms may be higher or lower compared to the optimal static policy.
Full Text 
Sign-in/Register to access full text options
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Paper version not known
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
