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Behavioral Biases and Legal Compliance: A Field Experiment

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  • Emanuel, Natalia
  • Ho, Helen

Abstract

Many defendants fail to appear (FTA) for court despite the prospect of legal consequences. In a field experiment, we compare the effectiveness of text message reminders to an intervention that combines reminders with personalized assistance. The treatments are equally effective, reducing FTA by 8 percentage points from a 21 percent baseline rate. However, personalized assistance facilitates greater take-up of court accommodations such as rescheduling and payment plans. For more serious cases, the treatments reduce arrests by two percentage points, implying FTAs have a large effect on arrests. For the least serious cases, an FTA has small effects on fines.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuel, Natalia & Ho, Helen, 2020. "Behavioral Biases and Legal Compliance: A Field Experiment," SocArXiv ztnmf, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:ztnmf
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/ztnmf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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