Let me inform you of the following research seminar.

Date:  November 1 (Tuesday),2022
Time: 15:15-16:45
Venue: 11th Floor, Bldg.No.2 Meeting Room B & ZOOM (HyFlex)
Speaker: Takanao Tanaka (UC Berkeley)
Organizer: Takuya Hasebe
Language: English

Title: Ethnic Disparity in Criminal Sentences: Evidence from 3 Million Court Verdicts in China

Abstract: Using the universal court verdicts in China, we find that minorities receive significantly harsher penalties than the majority group. The lion parts of disparities can be explained by criminals’ spatial distributions and courts’ assignments, yet unexplainable gaps remain. Minorities receive 2.5% longer sentences and an 18% and 14% higher likelihood of life imprisonment and the death penalty. The disparities are more salient for groups with distinct religions and a history of conflict against the majority, for crime types often associated with social unrest (such as drug crimes). These disparities ceased when the sentencing guideline reform was implemented, suggesting that judges’ discretion is the source of the unfair case resolutions.

* Please contact the organizer via email, if you'd like to participate in the online seminar.
   If you are interested in upcoming seminars, please visit the website of SIHS Seminar Series.