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8 Rev. L & Econ. 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/rvleco8 and id is 1 raw text is: Deterred or Detained? A Unified Model of Criminal Punishment THOMAS J. MICELI University of Connecticut The standard economic model of crime since Becker (1968) is primariy concerned nzth deterrence, but actualpunishment polcies appear to revl on imprisonment to a greater extent than is prescibed by that model. One reason may be the incapacitation function of prison. The model developed in this paper seeks to incoporate incapaatation into the standard model. A ke finding of the hybrid model is that when prison is the only form ofpunishment and the probabilip of apprehension is fixed, incapacitation can result in a longer or a shorter optimalprison term compared to the deterrence-only model. Other aspects of the standard model are studied ithin the context of the hjbrid model. 1. INTRODUCTION: THE COMPATIBILITY OF DETERRENCE AND INCAPACITATION The standard economic model of crime as first developed by Becker (1968), and brought to its current level of maturity by Polinsky and Shavell (2000, 2007), is primarily concerned with deterrence. Central to the BPS model (as I shall call it), and crucial for deterrence to be possible, is the rational offender assumption, which maintains that would-be criminals decide whether or not to commit a crime by comparing the gains from an illegal act to the expected punishment. Although some may doubt the validity of this assumption, there is ample empirical evidence to support it.1 On the basis of the rational offender assumption, the enforcement authority is able to choose the optimal law enforcement policy, consisting of the probability of apprehension and severity of punishment (the fine and/or prison term), so as to maximize a social welfare function that consists of the net harm * I appreciate the comments of Steven Shavell and an anonymous reviewer on an earlier version of this paper. I For a survey of the empirical literature, see Levitt and Miles (2007). DOI: 10.1515/1555-5879.1603

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