Schkade, DavidSunstein, CassKahneman, Daniel2014-09-182014-09-18David Schkade, Cass R. Sunstein & Daniel Kahneman, Do People Want Optimal Deterrence? (John M. Olin Program in Law & Economics Working Paper No. 77, 1999).http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12911335This paper tests the question whether people favor optimal deterrence policies. More particularly, it asks whether people are willing to increase penalties when the probability of detection is low, or to decrease penalties when the probability of detection is high. Two experiments are reported, suggesting that people do not spontaneously think in terms of optimal deterrence, and that people would have objections to policies based on the goal of optimal deterrence. Institutional implications are briefly discussed.en-USResearch Paper or Report2014-09-1810.1086/468069