The U.S. Crime Puzzle: A Comparative Perspective on U.S. Crime and Punishment
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Holger Spamann [1]
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[1] Harvard Law School
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- Localización: American law and economics review, ISSN 1465-7252, Vol. 18, Nº. 1, 2016, págs. 33-87
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
This paper compares actual U.S. crime and incarceration rates to predicted rates from cross-country regressions. Global cross-country regressions of crime and incarceration on background characteristics explain much of the variation between other countries. But the estimated models predict only one-fourth of U.S. incarceration and not all of U.S. crime. The coincidence of the non-negative U.S. crime residuals with the very large positive U.S. incarceration residual constitutes a puzzle. The two pieces fit together only if the residual U.S. incarceration does not contribute to a reduction in crime, except to the extent an omitted criminogenic factor pushes up U.S. crime. The paper quantifies this relationship. Drawing on additional evidence from comparative and U.S.-specific data, it argues that the puzzle's most plausible solution combines low effectiveness of mass incarceration with omitted criminogenic factors such as U.S. neighborhood segregation.
