American Economic Review: Insights
ISSN 2640-205X (Print) | ISSN 2640-2068 (Online)
Minority Salience and Criminal Justice Decisions
American Economic Review: Insights
(pp. 90–108)
Abstract
Decision-makers can exhibit biases when they overemphasize particularly salient features under limited attention. We exploit a sudden salience shock involving individuals of Moroccan descent to examine biases within the Dutch criminal justice system. The salience shock concerned the assassination of a defense attorney by organized crime and thus specifically targeted the justice system. Leveraging high-quality data covering arrest through appeal, we find no impact on police or prosecutor decisions but uncover a 71 percent increase in sentence lengths imposed by judges on salient individuals. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that judge experience with minority suspects can mitigate bias in more discretionary decisions.Citation
Hanemaaijer, Kyra, Nadine Ketel, and Olivier Marie. 2026. "Minority Salience and Criminal Justice Decisions." American Economic Review: Insights 8 (1): 90–108. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20240638Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law