Optimal imprisonment and fines with non-discriminatory sentences

C-Tier
Journal: Economics Letters
Year: 2019
Volume: 182
Issue: C
Pages: 105-108

Authors (2)

Garoupa, Nuno (George Mason University) Mungan, Murat (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

When considering the optimal combination of monetary sanctions (costless) and imprisonment (costly) as deterrents, the traditional result is that imprisonment should not be imposed until monetary sanctions are completely exhausted. Therefore, imprisonment acts as a mere supplement to maximal fines. We show that, when wealth varies across individuals, it could be efficient to use imprisonment in combination with fines that do not exhaust the wealth of all individuals. The rationale is that, generally, it is impractical to tailor criminal sanctions as a continuous function of individuals’ wealth.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecolet:v:182:y:2019:i:c:p:105-108
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25