Private Corrections, Public Implications: The Local Economic Realites of Private Prisons

Presenter Information

Charlotte Landes, Oberlin College

Location

Science Center, A254

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-26-2013 4:00 PM

End Date

4-26-2013 5:00 PM

Abstract

The coercive power of the state is distinctive, and yet incarceration is becoming more widely privatized. For-profit prisons market themselves as a solution to municipal and statewide economic woes alike. Using standard Ordinary Least Squares models, I explore the relationship between privatized prisons and local economic health. Despite the companies’ promises of secure, high-paying jobs, I find no significant relationship between the public/private nature of a prison and these economic indicators. Local and state officials would be well served by a careful review of advertised benefts before handing over to corporations the authority to detain and punish our fellow citizens.

Notes

Session III, Panel 13: The Powers (and Limits) of Persuasion: Case Studies in Liberation, Representation, and Privatization
Moderator: Michael Parkin, Associate Professor of Politics

Full text thesis available here.

Major

Economics

Advisor(s)

Barbara Craig, Economics

Project Mentor(s)

Hirschel Kasper, Economics
Barbara Craig, Economics
Carlos Chiapa, Economics

April 2013

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Apr 26th, 4:00 PM Apr 26th, 5:00 PM

Private Corrections, Public Implications: The Local Economic Realites of Private Prisons

Science Center, A254

The coercive power of the state is distinctive, and yet incarceration is becoming more widely privatized. For-profit prisons market themselves as a solution to municipal and statewide economic woes alike. Using standard Ordinary Least Squares models, I explore the relationship between privatized prisons and local economic health. Despite the companies’ promises of secure, high-paying jobs, I find no significant relationship between the public/private nature of a prison and these economic indicators. Local and state officials would be well served by a careful review of advertised benefts before handing over to corporations the authority to detain and punish our fellow citizens.