John J. Donohue III is the Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is an economist/lawyer who has used large-scale statistical studies to estimate the impact of law and public policy in a wide range of areas from civil rights and employment discrimination law to school funding and crime control. Before joining Yale Law School, he was a chaired professor at both Northwestern Law School and Stanford Law School. He recently co-authored (with George Rutherglen) Employment Discrimination: Law and Theory. Among his major articles are: Uses and Abuses of Empirical Evidence in the Death Penalty Debate (with Justin Wolfers), Shooting Down the ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Hypothesis (with Ian Ayres), and The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime (with Steven Levitt). Professor Donohue is a graduate of Hamilton College and he received his J.D. from Harvard and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale.
Abortion and Crime
Further Evidence that Legalized Abortion Lowered Crime: A Reply to Joyce (with Steven D. Levitt), Journal of Human Resources (2004)
The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime (with Steven D. Levitt), Quarterly Journal of Economics (2001)
We offer evidence that legalized abortion has contributed significantly to recent crime reductions. Crime began...
Antidiscrimination Law
The Law and Economics of Antidiscrimination Law, Handbook of Law and Economics (2006)
This essay provides an overview of the central theoretical law and economics insights and empirical...
Understanding the Reasons for and Impact of Legislatively Mandated Benefits for Selected Workers, Stanford Law Review (2001)
The Impact of Race on Policing and Arrests (with Steven Levitt), Journal of Law and Economics (2001)
Crime
Murder in Decline in the 1990s: Why the U.S. and N.Y.C. Were Not That Special," Book Review of Frank Zimring's, Punishment and Society (2008)
Death Penalty
The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence (with Justin J. Wolfers), The Economists' Voice (2006)
John Donohue and Justin Wolfers argue that Gary Becker and Richard Posner are wrong to...
Letter: A Reply to Rubin on the Death Penalty (with Justin J. Wolfers), The Economists' Voice (2006)
Contrary to Paul Rubin's recent testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, we believe the fragility...
USES AND ABUSES OF EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IN THE DEATH PENALTY DEBATE (with Justin J. Wolfers), American Law & Economics Association Annual Meetings (2006)
Gun Control
Shooting Down the ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Hypothesis (with Ian Ayres), Stanford Law Review (2003)
The Latest Misfires in Support of the ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Hypothesis (with Ian Ayres), Stanford Law Review (2003)
The Final Bullet in the Body of the More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis, Criminology & Public Policy (2003)
Incarceration
Allocating Resources among Prisons and Social Programs in the Battle against Crime (with Peter Siegleman), The Journal of Legal Studies (1998)
Labor and Employment
The Costs of Wrongful-Discharge Laws (with David Autor and Stewart Schwab), The Review of Economics and Statistics (2006)
Full data and programs behind the published paper are available from: http://econ-www.mit.edu/faculty/dautor/data/autdonschw06
Diverting the Coasean River: Incentive Schemes to Reduce Unemployment Spells, Yale Law Journal (1989)
Law and Economics
The Law and Economics of Antidiscrimination Law, Handbook of Law and Economics (2006)
This essay provides an overview of the central theoretical law and economics insights and empirical...
Some Thoughts on Law and Economics and the Theory of Second Best, Chicago-Kent Law Review (1998)
The Effects of Joint and Several Liability on Settlement Rates: Mathematical Symmetries and Meta-Issues in the Analusis of Rational Litigant Behavior, Journal of Legal Studies (1994)
Law and Economics of Civil Procedure
Opting for the British Rule: Or, If Posner and Shavell Can't Remember the Coase Theorem, Who Will?, Harvard Law Review (1991)
The Effects of Fee Shifting on the Settlement Rate: Theoretical Observations on Costs, Conflicts and Contingency Fees, Law and Contemporary Problems (1991)
Law and Politics
Clinton and Bush's Report Cards on Crime Reduction: The Data Show Bush Policies Are Undermining Clinton Gains, The Economists' Voice (2006)
At the Democratic Convention Clinton argued that he had put police on the street and...