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Act-Based Sanctions

Encyclopedia of Law and Economics

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Abstract

An act-based sanction punishes actions independently of the actual occurrence of harm. On the opposite, harm-based sanctions are imposed when harm occurs. When harm is certain, the distinction between act-based and harm-based sanctions is not relevant. On the opposite, when harm is probable, it is worth distinguishing act and harm based sanctions. In a basic public law enforcement framework, optimal deterrence can be achieved by both types of sanctions. This statement does not hold when potential offenders either have limited assets or are risk adverse or can invest in avoidance activities. Again, this assertion is not true when punishment is costly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRED, Université Panthéon-Assas Paris II, 12, place du Panthéon, Paris, France

    Marie Obidzinski

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  1. Marie Obidzinski
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Correspondence to Marie Obidzinski .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Montpellier, France

    Alain Marciano

  2. Dept DiGSPES, Univ del Piemonte Orientale Dept DiGSPES, Alessandria, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Ramello

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Obidzinski, M. (2016). Act-Based Sanctions. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_599-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_599-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Act-Based Sanctions
    Published:
    12 November 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_599-2

  2. Original

    Act-Based Sanctions
    Published:
    04 March 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_599-1

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