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  • March 2010 (Revised December 2010)
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The Market for Prisoners: Business, Crime and Punishment in the "American Dream"

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Laura Winig
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:29
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Abstract

In 2010, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison operator in the U.S., was considering expansion options. The company's largest customers, federal and state governments, were under economic pressure to reduce the incarceration rate and lower operating costs, potentially jeopardizing CCA's profits. Should CCA follow its competitor's footsteps and expand overseas? Or could it count on an ever-increasing population of U.S. prisoners to fuel continued growth?

Keywords

For-Profit Firms; Crime and Corruption; Profit; Law Enforcement; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; United States

Citation

Di Tella, Rafael M., and Laura Winig. The Market for Prisoners: Business, Crime and Punishment in the "American Dream". Harvard Business School Case 710-042, March 2010. (Revised December 2010.)
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About The Author

Rafael M. Di Tella

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Causal Inference During A Pandemic: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nebulized Ibuprofen as an Unproven Treatment for COVID-19 in Argentina By: Sebastian Calonico, Rafael Di Tella and Juan Cruz Lopez Del Valle
  • Does Social Media Cause Polarization? Evidence from Access to Twitter Echo Chambers during the 2019 Argentine Presidential Debate By: Rafael Di Tella, Ramiro H. Gálvez and Ernesto Schargrodsky
  • The 2012 Spanish Labor Reform: Lifting All Boats, or Leveling Down? By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella, Santiago Botella and Elena Corsi
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