Crime, Broken Families, and Punishment
构建了一个两期世代交叠模型，内生家庭结构和犯罪决策，发现严厉惩罚可能适得其反，因为罪犯的儿子更易成为罪犯，并解释了城市贫民区中破碎家庭、高犯罪率和同伴社交的持续存在。
We develop a two-period overlapping generations model in which both the family structure and the decision to commit crime are endogenous and the dynamics of moral norms of good conduct is transmitted intergenerationally by families and peers. By “destroying” biparental families and putting fathers in prison, we show that more intense crime repression can backfire because it increases the possibility that criminals’ sons become criminals themselves. Our model also explains the emergence and persistence of urban ghettos characterized by a large proportion of broken families, high crime rates, and high levels of peer socialization, which reinforce criminal activities.