Love, hate and murder
Subtitle: commitment devices in violent relationships
By: Anna Aizer, Pedro Dal Bó.
Contributors: Dal Bó, Pedro, 1971-; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- no. 13492.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13492.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 38
Subjects: Family violence -- Econometric models; Family violence -- Law and legislation
Description: Many violent relationships are characterized by a high degree of cyclicality: women who are the victims of domestic violence often leave and return multiple times. To explain this we develop a model of time inconsistent preferences in the context of domestic violence. This time inconsistency generates a demand for commitment. We present supporting evidence that women in violent relationships display time inconsistent preferences by examining their demand for commitment devices. We find that "no-drop" policies -- which compel the prosecutor to continue with prosecution even if the victim expresses a desire to drop the charges -- result in an increase in reporting. No-drop policies also result in a decrease in the number of men murdered by intimates suggesting that some women in violent relationships move away from an extreme type of commitment device when a less costly one is offered.
Notes: "October 2007"

Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-38).

Also available in PDF from the NBER world wide web site (www.nber.org).