A Note on Death Penalty Executions and Business Cycles in U.S. Federal States: Is There Any Nexus?

Abstract

Only legal facts should affect the application of the death penalty. This maxim is manifested in the U.S. constitution and stipulated by the Supreme Court. With regard to extra-legal economic factors, it has been applied to practice from 1950 to 1990 with the exception of two states: For Louisiana and Utah a significant countercyclical enforcement is found. A marginal increase of the economic conditions in these two states significantly reduces the probability of the performance of executions in a certain year.

Keywords: Enforcement of state law, executions, state business cycles

JEL Classification: K42, E32, H72