Abstract
Median voter theorem has been used in many economic environments including law enforcement. Assumptions of the median voter theorem, however, are generally violated in law enforcement models. Moreover, it is impossible to have agents with “opposite equilibrium preferences” over enforcement levels in law enforcement models. These limitations on the use of preferences over law enforcement raises questions about the robustness and validity of law enforcement models.
Highlights
Law enforcement is among the key elements of a civil society that ensures the achievement of a higher social welfare
In public enforcement of law models, the state determines the level of enforcement expenditures, the probability of detecting violators, and fines for harmful acts
In an enforcement equilibrium, given the enforcement level, each agent decides whether to engage in the harmful act
Summary
Law enforcement is among the key elements of a civil society that ensures the achievement of a higher social welfare. In public enforcement of law models, the state determines the level of enforcement expenditures, the probability of detecting violators, and fines for harmful acts. In an enforcement equilibrium (of both of these models), given the enforcement level (fines and the enforcement expenditure, which determines the level of monitoring/detection), each agent decides whether to engage in the harmful act. Given the level of enforcement, an agent’s expected utility depends on his own action and on actions of other agents This is because other agents’ actions determine the harm he faces, and affect fine revenues used to finance public enforcement along with taxes collected. 2 gives a range of agents’ benefits (from the harmful act) who have double-peaked preferences, violating the single-peakedness condition sufficient for the existence of a majority voting equilibrium in the median voter theorem.
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