Econometric Estimates of Deterrence of the Death Penalty: Facts or Ideology?
以《华尔街日报》声称每执行一次死刑可拯救70多条生命为例，展示如何通过简单或高级计量技术得出支持或不支持威慑假说的结果，并批判性综述近十年相关论文，指出数据相同但方法微调可导致结论迥异，最后讨论统计证据在政策辩论中的效用及道德问题。
In 2007, the Wall Street Journal published an article claiming that each execution saves more than 70 lives. This example is used to show how easy it is, using simple or advanced econometric techniques, to produce results that do or do not support the deterrence hypothesis. Moreover, we also point to some puzzles which have not been satisfactorily solved so far. We then present a critical survey of the papers published in the last ten years. It is shown how simple changes can produce quite different results using the same data. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the usefulness of statistical arguments in policy debates, but also on the moral questions involved in this particular debate.