Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/192826 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 844
Publisher: 
Statistics Norway, Research Department, Oslo
Abstract: 
The replacement of custodial with non-custodial sanctions holds the potential to reduce recidivism as well as other costs associated with imprisonment. However, the causal impacts on recidivism of noncustodial sanctions in general, and electronic monitoring (EM) programs in particular, remain unclear. We estimate the effect of EM on recidivism by exploiting an EM program that was gradually introduced in Norwegian counties from 2008, using difference-in-differences and instrumental variable designs. Results show that introducing EM reduced 2-year recidivism rates by about 10 percent, which corresponds to about 19 percent for those actually serving on EM. We find no effects on recidivism intensity or severity. Subsample analyses show that the effect estimates are strongest among offenders without previous imprisonment or recent unemployment spells, and although between-groups differences are statistically non-significant, this suggest that avoiding prison stigma and maintaining workplace relations can be important to reduce recidivism and promote desistance. The reliability of our results is somewhat challenged by unstable pre-implementation trends and signs that more people are convicted to EM-qualifying sentences when EM is introduced.
Subjects: 
Electronic monitoring
non-custodial sanctions
recidivism
difference-in-differences
instrumental variable
JEL: 
K49
J19
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
1.37 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.