The effect of traffic cameras on police effort: Evidence from India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Conover, Emily; Kraynak, Daniel; Singh, Prakarsh
• 署名单位: Hamilton College
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102953
• 发表日期: 2023
• 关键词: police; monitoring; shirking; Public sector; Traffic violations; CORRUPTION; INDIA

摘要

Using a novel data set on CCTV cameras in Chandigarh, India, we test whether police officers' effort changes in response to the presence of traffic cameras. Although the cameras are useful in sanctioning drivers, they can also capture the passive (shirking) or active (rent-seeking) corruption of officers. Accounting for the spatial and temporal variations in the operation of the cameras, we find that the presence of a functioning camera results in an increase in on-the-ground tickets. Although we do not rule out possible decreases in rent-seeking behavior, a decline in passive corruption appears to be driving the increase in officer ticketing behavior, particularly for the most common vehicles and violations that can be observed from the CCTV cameras. Our findings indicate that remote monitoring technology can serve, if not a substitute for, then as a complement to on-the-ground enforcement.