Citation

Discussion Paper Details

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Title: The Persistence of the Criminal Justice Gender Gap: Evidence from 200 Years of Judicial Decisions

Author(s): Anna L Bindler and Randi Hjalmarsson

Publication Date: October 2019

Keyword(s): crime, discrimination, Gender, Gender Gap, History, sentencing and verdict

Programme Area(s): Economic History, Labour Economics and Public Economics

Abstract: We document persistent gender gaps favoring females in jury convictions and judge sentences in nearly 200 years of London trials, which are unexplained by case characteristics. We find that three sharp changes in punishment severity locally affected the size and nature of the gaps, but were generally not strong enough to offset their persistence. These local effects suggest a mechanism of taste-based discrimination (paternalism) where the all-male judiciary protected females from the harshest available punishment.

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Bibliographic Reference

Bindler, A and Hjalmarsson, R. 2019. 'The Persistence of the Criminal Justice Gender Gap: Evidence from 200 Years of Judicial Decisions'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14067