%0 Journal Article
%T How optimal penalties change with the amount of harm
%J International review of law and economics
%D 1995
%A Rasmusen, Eric
%V 15
%N 1
%P 101-108
%X Intuition tells us that the optimal penalty and court care to avoid error should rise smoothly with the harm to the victim. This is not always correct; sometimes the optimal penalty and level of court care increase discontinuously with harm, even when penalties deter harm and court care reduces error continuously. This is shown in a model in which the social cost of crime consists of its direct harm, the cost of court care, and the cost of false convictions.<p />
%G 
%I Elsevier Publishing
%@ 0144-8188
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0144-8188(94)00008-I