Justice Efficiency and Crime Deterrence

Being strongly related to certainty of punishment, efficient justice is expected to mat- ter more than the severity of punishment in deterring crimes. However, the evidence supporting this perspective is scarce. This paper estimates the effect of a reform of the criminal justice system that took place in Italy in 2012, evaluating its impact on justice efficiency and crime deterrence. Event study and difference-in-difference estimates reveal that the reform significantly improved the efficiency of criminal courts and de- terred property crimes and organised crimes, while violent crimes were not affected. These results support the idea that the deterrence effect of justice efficiency applies par- ticularly to “rational” crimes, while criminals acting under impulsive and less-rational circumstances do not internalise information about justice in their decision-making.