Crime and Punishment: And Skin Hue Too?

Abstract

This paper considers whether the disadvantages that accrue to black Americans with a dark skin hue also induce a transition into criminal activity—an outcome consistent with standard economic models of crime. We also examine whether or not prison terms are conditioned on skin hue. With data on black offenders in the state of Mississippi, we estimate Cox proportional hazard specifications of the transition into criminal activity, and find that it is conditioned on the darkness of skin hue. Our parameter estimates are consistent with a theoretical framework in which being black and having a dark skin hue induces a transition into criminal activity by limiting the set of legitimate opportunities for an individual. Given a conviction, we also find that the severity of punishment for black offenders as measured by the length of sentence is an increasing function of the darkness of skin hue. JEL Classification: J0, J7, K4, Z0 ∗Professor and Chair, Department of Economics, College of Business Administration, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, BSN 3403, Tampa, Florida 33620–5500, email: kgyimah@coba.usf.edu, Tel # (813) 974-6520, ∗∗Corresponding Author: Director, Mississippi Urban Research Center, Jackson State University, P.O. Box 17309, Jackson Mississippi, 39217, email: gprice@murc.org, Tel #: (601), 979-1428. This paper was prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Allied Social Science Association, joint AEA/NEA paper session on “Skin Tone Discrimination and Economic Outcomes”, Ja…