Prison Conditions, Capital Punishment, and Deterrence |
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Authors: | Katz, Lawrence Levitt, Steven D. Shustorovich, Ellen |
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Affiliation: | Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research University of Chicago and American Bar Foundation City University of New York |
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Abstract: | Previous research has attempted to identify a deterrent effectof capital punishment. We argue that the quality of life inprison is likely to have a greater impact on criminal behaviorthan the death penalty. Using state-level panel data coveringthe period 195090, we demonstrate that the death rateamong prisoners (the best available proxy for prison conditions)is negatively correlated with crime rates, consistent with deterrence.This finding is shown to be quite robust. In contrast, thereis little systematic evidence that the execution rate influencescrime rates in this time period. |
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