Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46026 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5484
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper offers a new argument for why a more aggressive enforcement of minor offenses (zero-tolerance) may yield a double dividend in that it reduces both minor offenses and more severe crime. We develop a model of criminal subcultures in which people gain social status among their peers for being tough by committing criminal acts. As zero-tolerance keeps relatively gutless people from committing a minor offense, the signaling value of that action increases, which makes it attractive for some people who would otherwise commit more severe crime. If social status is sufficiently important in criminal subcultures, zero-tolerance reduces crime across the board.
Subjects: 
status concerns
street crime
subcultures
penalties
zero-tolerance
broken windows policing
JEL: 
K14
K42
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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