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Release, Detain, or Surveil? The Effect of Electronic Monitoring on Defendant Outcomes

Roman Rivera

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics2026https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20240517article
AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of pretrial electronic monitoring (EM) relative to both pretrial release and pretrial detention (jail). EM often involves a defendant wearing an electronic bracelet, which aims to reduce pretrial misconduct at a low cost. Using the quasi-random assignment of bond court judges, I estimate the effect of EM versus release and EM versus detention on pretrial misconduct, case outcomes, future recidivism, and aggregate total costs. Results indicate that EM reduces overall costs relative to detention. However, EM does not prevent enough high-cost crime to justify its use relative to release. (JEL K14, K41, K42)

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20240517

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@article{roman2026,
  title        = {{Release, Detain, or Surveil? The Effect of Electronic Monitoring on Defendant Outcomes}},
  author       = {Roman Rivera},
  journal      = {American Economic Journal: Applied Economics},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20240517},
}

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Release, Detain, or Surveil? The Effect of Electronic Monitoring on Defendant Outcomes

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.