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The Political Economy of Mass Incarceration: An Analytical Model

Author

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  • Peter Temin

    (MIT Economics)

Abstract

This paper presents a model of mass incarceration in the United States, which has the largest proportion of its population imprisoned among advanced countries. The United States began to differ from other countries in the 1970s in response to changes in judicial policies. Although the Kerner Commission recommended integrating the black community into the larger American community, judicial policies went in the opposite direction. The model draws from several accounts of these changes and demonstrates that the United States has moved from one equilibrium position to another. It is driven by two equations, one for incarceration and one for crime. It explains why the growth of prisoners has ceased in the last decade and what would be needed to return to the original equilibrium.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Temin, 2017. "The Political Economy of Mass Incarceration: An Analytical Model," Working Papers Series 56, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    • Handle: RePEc:thk:wpaper:56
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2993969
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Temin, 2018. "Finance in Economic Growth: Eating the Family Cow," Working Papers Series 86, Institute for New Economic Thinking.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    mass incarceration; prisons; crime; race;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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