סמינר באסטרטגיה בשיתוף עם בית ספר לכלכלה

We examine the consequences of an organizational reform in Israel that transferred the responsibility for housing arrestees from the Police to the Prison Authority. Using the staggered regional introduction of the reform we find that it led to an increase in the number of arrests and a decrease in crime, with these eff ects concentrated in more minor crimes. We also find that arrest quality, measured by the likelihood of indictment, fell. These findings are consistent with the idea that the reform externalized the cost of housing arrestees from the Police`s perspective, and therefore led to an increase in Police activity.