Arbeitspapier

Sentence reductions and recidivism: lessons from the Bastille Day quasi experiment

This paper exploits the collective pardon granted to individuals incarcerated in French prisons on the 14th of July, 1996 (Bastille Day) to identify the effect of collective sentence reductions on recidivism. The collective pardon generated a very significant discontinuity in the relationship between the number of weeks of sentence reduction granted to inmates and their prospective date of release. We show that the same discontinuity exists in the relationship between recidivism probability five years after the release and prospective date of release. Overall, the Bastille Day quasi experiment suggests that collective sentence reductions increase recidivism and do not represent a cost-effective way to reduce incarceration rates or prisons' overcrowding.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 3990

Classification
Wirtschaft
Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
Subject
Crime
prison
deterrence effect
recidivism
Straffreiheit
Kriminalität
Kriminalpolitik
Frankreich

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Maurin, Eric
Ouss, Aurelie
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
(where)
Bonn
(when)
2009

Handle
URN
urn:nbn:de:101:1-20090304456
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Maurin, Eric
  • Ouss, Aurelie
  • Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Time of origin

  • 2009

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