@article{e67dba74bbde45f18b97ccac02453208,
title = "Law enforcement and bargaining over illicit drug prices: Structural evidence from a gang's ledger",
abstract = "We estimate a structural model of bargaining between a branch of a large transnational gang and pushers using data from detailed records kept by the gang. The model allows for the gang{\textquoteright}s relative bargaining power to differ for pushers with different characteristics, such as those with addictions or borrowing problems. Exploiting supply shocks in our data, we use the estimated model to study the effectiveness of various enforcement strategies. We find that targeting pushers is more effective at reducing quantities sold compared to targeting the gang{\textquoteright}s upstream supply chain.",
author = "Kaiwen Leong and Huailu Li and Marc Rysman and Christoph Walsh",
note = "Funding Information: The data used in this paper were obtained by Leong who first obtained approval to use this dataset to study the drug-selling market by writing to the appropriate Singaporean authorities. He obtained ethics approval from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) IRB. As required by NTU IRB, we have solicited and incorporated feedback from the relevant authorities, lawyers, and ex-offenders into the current draft to ensure that we do not reveal any sensitive information that may jeopardize our own safety. Leong received a Singapore Ministry of Education Tier 1 grant (number 2017-T1-001-076) and an NTU economics department grant (number 021156-00001) for this research. We thank seminar participants and discussants at Tilburg University, CEPR VIOS, Boston University, Yale University, IIOC, and EARIE for their helpful comments and suggestions. Walsh is a Research Affiliate at CEPR. The usual caveat applies. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Economic Association.",
year = "2022",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1093/jeea/jvac003",
language = "English",
volume = "20",
pages = "1198--1230",
journal = "Journal of the European Economic Association",
issn = "1542-4774",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "3",
}