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Credibility of Crime Allegations

Author

Listed:
  • Frances Xu Lee
  • Wing Suen

Abstract

The lack of hard evidence in allegations about sexual misconduct makes it difficult to separate true allegations from false ones. We provide a model in which victims and potential libelers face the same costs and benefits from making an allegation, but the tendency for perpetrators of sexual misconduct to engage in repeat offenses allows semiseparation to occur, which lends credibility to such allegations. Our model also explains why reports about sexual misconduct are often delayed, and why the public rationally assigns less credibility to these delayed reports.

Suggested Citation

  • Frances Xu Lee & Wing Suen, 2020. "Credibility of Crime Allegations," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 220-259, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:220-59
    DOI: 10.1257/mic.20180231
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Colagrossi, Marco & Deiana, Claudio & Dragone, Davide & Geraci, Andrea & Giua, Ludovica & Iori, Elisa, 2023. "Intimate partner violence and help-seeking: The role of femicide news," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Ratul Das Chaudhury & Birendra Rai & Liang Choon Wang & Dyuti Banerjee, 2021. "Welfare v. Consent: On the Optimal Penalty for Harassment," Papers 2103.00734, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2023.
    3. Harry Pei & Bruno Strulovici, 2020. "Crime Aggregation, Deterrence, and Witness Credibility," Papers 2009.06470, arXiv.org.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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