Replication data for: How Punishment Severity Affects Jury Verdicts: Evidence from Two Natural Experiments

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Anna Bindler; Randi Hjalmarsson

Version:  View help for Version V1

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  data 10/13/2019 06:05:AM
LICENSE.txt text/plain 14.6 KB 10/13/2019 02:05:AM

Project Citation: 

Bindler, Anna, and Hjalmarsson, Randi. Replication data for: How Punishment Severity Affects Jury Verdicts: Evidence from Two Natural Experiments. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2018. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-13. https://doi.org/10.3886/E114717V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This paper studies the effect of punishment severity on jury decision-making using archival data from London's Old Bailey Criminal Court from 1772 to 1871. We exploit two natural experiments in English history, resulting in sharp decreases in punishment severity: the offense-specific abolition of capital punishment and the temporary halt of penal transportation during the American Revolution. Using difference-in-differences to study the former and a pre-post design for the latter, we find a large, significant and permanent impact on jury behavior: juries are more likely to convict overall and across crime categories. Moreover, the effect size differs with defendants' gender.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      K41 Litigation Process
      K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
      N43 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: Pre-1913


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