Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2011
  • Article
  • Cato Papers on Public Policy

Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals

By: Rafael Di Tella
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We describe the evolution of selective aspects of punishment in the U.S. over the period 1980-2004. We note that imprisonment increased around 1980, a period that coincides with the "Reagan revolution" in economic matters. We build an economic model where beliefs about economic opportunities and beliefs about punishment are correlated. We present three pieces of evidence (across countries, within the U.S., and an experimental exercise) that are consistent with the model.

Keywords

Crime and Corruption

Citation

Di Tella, Rafael. "Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals." Cato Papers on Public Policy 1 (2011).
  • Read Now

About The Author

Rafael M. Di Tella

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • 2021
    • Faculty Research

    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
    • October 2021
    • Faculty Research

    The 2012 Spanish Labor Reform: Lifting All Boats or Levelling Down?

    By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella, Santiago Botella and Elena Corsi
    • March 2020
    • Faculty Research

    The Trouble with TCE

    By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella and Galit Goldstein
More from the Author
  • 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 Levelling Down? By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella, Santiago Botella and Elena Corsi
  • The Trouble with TCE By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella and Galit Goldstein
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College