Abstract

California’s Attorney General was pleased to announce that “An unintended but positive consequence of ‘Three-Strikes’ has been the impact on parolees leaving the state….The growth in the number of parolees leaving California is staggering.” Law enforcement officers in other states were presumably less pleased. A displaced criminal is a benefit to California but a cost to other states. If such criminal spillovers are important, law enforcement will over-invest in policies that encourage displacement. We test whether California’s three-strikes law led to significant criminal spillovers.

Submitted: October 3, 2008 · Accepted: January 12, 2009 · Published: May 11, 2009

Recommended Citation

Tabarrok, Alexander and Helland, Eric (2009) "Measuring Criminal Spillovers: Evidence from Three Strikes," Review of Law & Economics: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1, Article 11.
DOI: 10.2202/1555-5879.1326
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/rle/vol5/iss1/art11