Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46540 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 3443
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
In 2007, the Wall Street Journal published an article claiming that each execution saves more than 70 lives. This example is used to show how easy it is, using simple or advanced econometric techniques, to produce results that do or do not support the deterrence hypothesis. Moreover, we also point to some puzzles which have not been satisfactorily solved so far. We then present a critical survey of the papers published in the last ten years. It is shown how simple changes can produce quite different results using the same data. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the usefulness of statistical arguments in policy debates, but also on the moral questions involved in this particular debate.
Subjects: 
death penalty
deterrence
econometric evidence
ideology
JEL: 
K14
K42
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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