DP5442 Leniency Policies and Illegal Transactions

Author(s):	Paolo Buccirossi, Giancarlo Spagnolo
Publication Date:	December 2005
Keyword(s):	amnesty, collusion, corruption, financial fraud, governance, hold up, hostages, illegal trade, immunity, law enforcement, leniency, organized crime, self-reporting, whistleblowers
JEL(s):	D73, G38, K21, K42, M42
Programme Areas:	Public Economics, Financial Economics, Industrial Organization
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=5442

We study the consequences of leniency - reduced legal sanctions for wrongdoers who spontaneously self-report to law enforcers - on sequential, bilateral, illegal transactions such as corruption, manager-auditor collusion, or drug deals. It is known that leniency helps to deter illegal relationships sustained by repeated interaction. Here we find that - when not properly designed - leniency may simultaneously provide an effective governance mechanism for occasional sequential illegal transactions that would not be feasible in its absence.