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ABSTRACT
Standard models of law enforcement involve the apprehension and punishment of a single suspect, but in many contexts, punishment is imposed on an entire group known to contain the offender. The advantages of group punishment are that the offender is punished with certainty and detection costs are saved. The disadvantage is that innocent individuals are punished. We compare individual and group punishment when social welfare depends on fairness (or retribution) and when it depends on deterrence. We show that group punishment may dominate in the former case if the detection technology is ineffective but never in the latter case. The results broadly reflect the actual use of group punishment in ancient and modern law.
1. INTRODUCTION
In standard economic models of law enforcement, the chief objective is first to identify, and then punish, the offender.1 However, there are many enforcement contexts in which the identity of the offender is uncertain but he or she is known to be a member of a well-defined group. Historical examples include cases in which one member of a family, tribe, or clan is responsible for an assault or murder. More modern examples include a class prankster, a terrorist who is known to be a member of a particular group or citizen of a certain country, and a polluter who is known to be located within a particular geographic region. Under an individual punishment strategy, the enforcement authority invests some resources in apprehending a suspect from this group and then imposes a sanction (perhaps wrongly) on him or her. However, an alternative punishment strategy is possible, namely, sanction all members of the group. Examples of this sort of group punishment include punishing the entire class for the actions of a prankster, sanctioning countries that harbor terrorists, imposing liability on a group of firms for a spill caused by one of them, and, in primitive societies, retaliating against an entire family or clan for the actions of one of its members.
In this paper, we examine the conditions under which group punishment is preferred over individual punishment. The benefits of group punishment include certain punishment of the offender and reduced detection costs. The chief drawback is the cost associated with wrongful punishment of the innocent. However, in situations in...