Another Look at the Deterrent Effect of Death Penalty

Choe, Jongmook (2009): Another Look at the Deterrent Effect of Death Penalty.

Abstract

There is a question whether the execution rate is appropriate to examine the deterrent effect of death penalty. Instead of using execution rate, this paper uses dummy variables to categorize states into different groups and to compare the group mean homicide rates. With U.S. state-level panel data for the period 1995 - 2006, this paper fails to find a significant homicide-reducing effect of death penalty.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Death Penalty, Execution, Homicide, Deterrence, Dummy Variable
• Subjects: K - Law and Economics > K1 - Basic Areas of Law > K14 - Criminal Law; K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior > K41 - Litigation Process

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