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Journal of Political Economy Vol. 121 No. 1 2013

Criminal Recidivism after Prison and Electronic Monitoring

Rafael Di Tella; Ernesto Schargrodsky1

1 Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

Abstract

We study criminal recidivism in Argentina by focusing on the rearrest rates of two groups: individuals released from prison and individuals released from electronic monitoring. Detainees are randomly assigned to judges, and ideological differences across judges translate into large differences in the allocation of electronic monitoring to an otherwise similar population. Using these peculiarities of the Argentine setting, we argue that there is a large, negative causal effect on criminal recidivism of treating individuals with electronic monitoring relative to prison.

DOI
10.1086/669786
Volume
121
Issue
1
Pages
28-73
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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