Citation

Goncalves F, Mello S. Am. Econ. Rev. 2021; 111(5): 1406-1441.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, American Economic Association)

DOI

10.1257/aer.20181607

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We estimate the degree to which individual police officers practice racial discrimination. Using a bunching estimation design and data from the Florida Highway Patrol, we show that minorities are less likely to receive a discount on their speeding tickets than White drivers. Disaggregating this difference to the individual police officer, we estimate that 42 percent of officers practice discrimination. We then apply our officer-level discrimination measures to various policy-relevant questions in the literature. In particular, reassigning officers across locations based on their lenience can effectively reduce the aggregate disparity in treatment.

Language: en

Keywords

Non-labor Discrimination, Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law; State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories, Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants