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Criminals on the Field: A Study of College Football

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  • Radek Janhuba
  • Kristyna Cechova

Abstract

Economists have found mixed evidence on what happens when the number of police increases. On the one hand, more law enforcers means a higher probability of detecting a crime, which is known as the monitoring effect. On the other hand, criminals incorporate the increase into their decision-making process and thus may commit fewer crimes, constituting the deterrence effect. This study analyzes the effects of an increase in the number of on-field college football officials, taking players as potential criminals and officials as law enforcers. Analyzing a novel play by play dataset from two seasons of college football, we report evidence of a monitoring e ect being present in the overall dataset. This effect is mainly driven by offensive penalties which are called in the area of jurisdiction of the added official. Decomposition of the effect provides evidence of the presence of the deterrence effect in cases of penalties with severe punishment or those committed by teams with moderate to high ability, suggesting that teams are able to strategically adapt their behavior following the addition of an official.

Suggested Citation

  • Radek Janhuba & Kristyna Cechova, 2017. "Criminals on the Field: A Study of College Football," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp610, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp610
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    3. Robert E. McCormick & Robert D. Tollison, 2007. "Crime on the Court, Another Look: Reply to Hutchinson and Yates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(3), pages 520-521.
    4. Carl Kitchens, 2014. "Identifying Changes In The Spatial Distribution Of Crime: Evidence From A Referee Experiment In The National Football League," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 259-268, January.
    5. McCormick, Robert E & Tollison, Robert D, 1984. "Crime on the Court," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(2), pages 223-235, April.
    6. Kevin P. Hutchinson & Andrew J. Yates, 2007. "Crime on the Court: A Correction," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(3), pages 515-519.
    7. Aaron Chalfin & Justin McCrary, 2017. "Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(1), pages 5-48, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    football; official; crime; deterrence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • Z29 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Other

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