WOULD ELIMINATING RACIAL DISPARITIES IN MOTOR VEHICLE SEARCHES HAVE EFFICIENCY COSTS?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Feigenberg, Benjamin; Miller, Conrad
• 署名单位: University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Chicago Hospital; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjab018
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 49-113
• 关键词: Bias

摘要

During traffic stops, police search black and Hispanic motorists more than twice as often as white motorists, yet those searches are no more likely to yield contraband. We ask whether equalizing search rates by motorist race would reduce contraband yield. We use unique administrative data from Texas to isolate variation in search behavior across and within highway patrol troopers and find that search rates are unrelated to the proportion of searches that yield contraband. We find that troopers can equalize search rates across racial groups, maintain the status quo search rate, and increase contraband yield. Troopers appear to be limited in their ability to discern between motorists who are more or less likely to carry contraband.