IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v54y2020i3p1062-1081.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mass incarceration and consumer financial harm: Critique of rent‐seeking by the carceral state

Author

Listed:
  • Casey Carder Rockwell
  • David Crockett
  • Lenita Davis

Abstract

Mass incarceration is an approach to managing public safety that emphasizes detention over other means. It is also neoliberalism's quintessential political and economic project because it mobilizes a prison industrial complex to generate revenue. We highlight rent‐seeking, the pursuit of extra‐budgetary revenues by carceral agencies, because it inflicts financial harm on incarcerated consumers and their supporters. Carceral agencies leverage government's authority to set the conditions of detention. However, when they also leverage government's market‐making authority to seek rents from incarcerated persons we characterize that as a government failure. To understand it, we depart from a focus on corruption by specific actors to highlight features of institutions that enable unethical behavior. We join activists and elected officials who call for an end to mass incarceration, but we also highlight more immediate reforms that can help restrain rent‐seeking and enable greater public scrutiny of the carceral state.

Suggested Citation

  • Casey Carder Rockwell & David Crockett & Lenita Davis, 2020. "Mass incarceration and consumer financial harm: Critique of rent‐seeking by the carceral state," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 1062-1081, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:3:p:1062-1081
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12316
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12316
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12316?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Jaworski, 2014. "An Absurd Tax on our Fellow Citizens: The Ethics of Rent Seeking in the Market Failures (or Self-Regulation) Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 467-476, May.
    2. Luca Mongelli & Pietro Versari & Francesco Rullani & Antonino Vaccaro, 2018. "Made in Carcere: Integral Human Development in Extreme Conditions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 977-995, November.
    3. Marlow, M.A. & Luna-Gierke, R.E. & Griffin, P.M. & Vieira, A.R., 2017. "Foodborne disease outbreaks in correctional institutions-United States, 1998-2014," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(7), pages 1150-1156.
    4. Steven G. Medema, 1991. "Another Look at the Problem of Rent Seeking," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 1049-1065, December.
    5. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303816_5 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Robert D. Tollison, 1982. "Rent Seeking: A Survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 575-602, November.
    7. Markus Giesler & Ela Veresiu, 2014. "Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(3), pages 840-857.
    8. Michael Hudson, 2011. "Simon Patten on Public Infrastructure and Economic Rent Capture," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 874-903, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maurice Baslé, 1997. "Le changement institutionnel peut-il être analysé comme évolutionnaire ? quelques limites de l'approche économique standard et quelques voies ouvertes à l'approche évolutionnaire," Post-Print hal-02081216, HAL.
    2. repec:elg:eechap:15325_21 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, 2004. "Ulysses and the Rent-Seekers: The Benefits and Challenges of Constitutional Constraints on Leviathan," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: The Dynamics of Intervention: Regulation and Redistribution in the Mixed Economy, pages 245-278, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    4. Erich Weede, 1986. "Rent Seeking, Military Participation, and Economic Performance in LDCs," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 30(2), pages 291-314, June.
    5. Auty, R. M., 2003. "Third time lucky for Algeria? Integrating an industrializing oil-rich country into the global economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(1-2), pages 37-47.
    6. Wen Li Cheng & Jeffrey Sachs & Xiaokai Yang, 2005. "An Inframarginal Analysis Of The Ricardian Model," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: An Inframarginal Approach To Trade Theory, chapter 6, pages 87-107, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Kwangho Jung & Seung-Hee Lee & Jane Workman, 2018. "Purchasing Counterfeits and Citizenship: Public Service Motivation Matters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Bruno S. Frey & Paolo Pamini & Lasse Steiner, 2011. "What Determines The World Heritage List? An Econometric Analysis," CREMA Working Paper Series 2011-01, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    9. Peter Boettke, 2017. "Robert Tollison and operationalizing public choice," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 17-22, April.
    10. Sami Dakhlia & Paul Pecorino, 2006. "Rent-seeking with scarce talent: A model of preemptive hiring," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 475-486, December.
    11. Charis X. Li & Xiao-xiao Liu & Jun Ye & Siyu Zheng & Songyin Cai, 2024. "Ethical Pursuit or Personal Nirvana? Unpacking the Practice of Danshari in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(4), pages 675-695, May.
    12. Douglas Davis & Robert Reilly, 1998. "Do too many cooks always spoil the stew? An experimental analysis of rent-seeking and the role of a strategic buyer," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 89-115, April.
    13. William C. Mitchell, 1990. "Interest Groups: Economic Perspectives and Contributions," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 2(1), pages 85-108, January.
    14. Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci & Eric Langlais & Bruno Lovat & Francesco Parisi, 2007. "Crowding-out in productive and redistributive rent-seeking," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 199-229, October.
    15. Mikael Priks, 2005. "Optimal Rent Extraction in Pre-Industrial England and France – Default Risk and Monitoring Costs," CESifo Working Paper Series 1464, CESifo.
    16. Sonin, Konstantin, 2003. "Why the rich may favor poor protection of property rights," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 715-731, December.
    17. Miguel A. Fonseca, 2006. "It's not how you play the game, it's winning that matters: an experimental investigation of asymmetric contests," Documentos de CERAC 2927, CERAC -Centro de Recursos para el Análisis de Conflictos.
    18. Frank Daumann & Florian Follert & Werner Gleißner & Endre Kamarás & Chantal Naumann, 2021. "Political Decision Making in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Germany from the Perspective of Risk Management," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-23, December.
    19. Fanny Reniou & Elisa Monnot, 2023. "Consumer Discipline: A Safeguard to Maintain Sustainable Consumption Patterns," THEMA Working Papers 2023-19, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    20. Wolfgang Maennig, 2004. "Korruption im internationalen Sport: ökonomische Analyse und Lösungsansätze," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 73(2), pages 263-291.
    21. Bruce L. Benson & M. L. Greenhut, 1987. "Interest Groups and the Antitrust Paradox," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 6(3), pages 801-817, Winter.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:3:p:1062-1081. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.