Preventing Crime Through Selective Incapacitation
TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2011-001
CentER Discussion Paper No. 2010-141
52 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2011 Last revised: 27 Jan 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
Preventing Crime Through Selective Incapacitation
Preventing Crime Through Selective Incapacitation
Date Written: January 12, 2011
Abstract
Making the length of a prison sentence conditional on an individual’s offense history is shown to be a powerful way of preventing crime. Under a law adopted in the Netherlands in 2001, prolific offenders could be sentenced to a prison term that was some ten times longer than usual. We exploit quasi-experimental variation in the moment of introduction and the frequency of application across 12 urban areas to identify the effect. We find the sentence enhancements to have dramatically reduced theft rates. The size of the crime-reducing effect is found to be subject to sharply diminishing returns.
Keywords: prolific offenders, incarceration, selective incapacitation, three strikes laws
JEL Classification: K42, K14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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