中文摘要
在注意力有限的情况下,决策者可能因过度强调特别凸显的特征而表现出偏见。我们利用一场涉及摩洛哥裔个体的突发凸显性冲击,考察荷兰刑事司法系统中的偏见。该凸显性冲击源于有组织犯罪暗杀一名辩护律师的事件,因而特别针对司法系统。利用涵盖从逮捕到上诉全过程的高质量数据,我们发现警方或检察官的决策未受影响,但法官对凸显个体判处的刑期增加了 71%。异质性分析表明,法官与少数族裔嫌疑人打交道的经验可以缓解较具裁量性决策中的偏见。(JEL D91, J15, K42)
Abstract
Decision-makers can exhibit biases when they overemphasize particularly salient features under limited attention. We exploit a sudden salience shock involving individuals of Moroccan descent to examine biases within the Dutch criminal justice system. The salience shock concerned the assassination of a defense attorney by organized crime and thus specifically targeted the justice system. Leveraging high-quality data covering arrest through appeal, we find no impact on police or prosecutor decisions but uncover a 71 percent increase in sentence lengths imposed by judges on salient individuals. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that judge experience with minority suspects can mitigate bias in more discretionary decisions. (JEL D91, J15, K42)