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Selected Works of John Donohue
Article
The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence
The Economists' Voice (2006)
  • John Donohue, Yale University
  • Justin J Wolfers
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Abstract
John Donohue and Justin Wolfers argue that Gary Becker and Richard Posner are wrong to think that the death penalty deters murder: they find little empirical support for the claim. If anything, when one looks over the longest period possible (1934-2000) there is more evidence that the death penalty stimulates murder than that it deters murder.
Keywords
  • death penalty,
  • capital punishment,
  • deterrence
Disciplines
Publication Date
August, 2006
Citation Information
John Donohue and Justin J Wolfers. "The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence" The Economists' Voice Vol. 3 Iss. 5 (2006)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john_donohue/4/