Title

Commitment versus Flexibility in Enforcement Games

Comments

JEL ClassiÂ…cation Numbers: C72, K42

Abstract

This paper studies the role of commitment in the design of enforcement mechanisms when enforcement can remedy harm from non-compliance. We consider a game between an enforcement authority ("enforcer") and an offender in which either the enforcer or the offender may act as a Stackelberg leader. The enforcer must choose whether to move first by committing to an enforcement strategy- thereby directly affecting the level of non-compliance; or rather let the offender make the first move- thereby calibrating the level of enforcement to the actual level of non-compliance. We show that the value of commitment to the enforcer depends on each player's responsiveness to a change in the other player's strategy choice. Commitment to an enforcement strategy is thus not always in the enforcer's interest.

Disciplines

Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Economics | Law and Economics | Law Enforcement and Corrections

Date of this Version

January 2011

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