Death and Deterrence

Professor Stephen K. Layson, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has published in the Southern Economic Journal (July 1985) a statistical study of the effects of executions on the murder rate. He concluded that every execution of a murderer deters, on the average, 18 murders that would have occurred without it.

Layson also inquired into the effects of the arrest and conviction of murderers on the murder rate. His correlations indicate that a 1 per cent increase in the clearance (arrest) rate for murder would lead to 250 fewer murders per year. Currently the clearance rate is 75 per cent. Further, a 1 per cent increase in murder convictions would deter about 105 murders. Currently 38 per cent of all murders result in a conviction; 0.1 per cent of murders result in an execution.

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Ernest van den Haag

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Professor Stephen K. Layson, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has published in the Southern Economic Journal (July 1985) a statistical study of the effects of executions on the murder rate. He concluded that every execution of a murderer deters, on the average, 18 murders that would have occurred without it.

Layson also inquired into the effects of the arrest and conviction of murderers on the murder rate. His correlations indicate that a 1 per cent increase in the clearance (arrest) rate for murder would lead to 250 fewer murders per year. Currently the clearance rate is 75 per cent. Further, a 1 per cent increase in murder convictions would deter about 105 murders. Currently 38 per cent of all murders result in a conviction; 0.1 per cent of murders result in an execution.