Reducing Prison Costs Through Prison Labour: A Law and Economics Approach

The costs of imprisonment is a common concern to many European countries. However, in some cases this is an inevitable form of punishment, thus may not be substituted by less costly sanctions. Improving prison labour in European prisons has the potential to decrease the costs of incarceration. Therefore, this paper discusses the methods to increase the efficiency of the prison industry using the law and economics approach. Different incentive schemes may be introduced in prisons in order to improve the inmates’ work productivity. Furthermore, private firms may be attracted to provide employment opportunities for inmates, thus, increasing the quality of activities offered to offenders during their sentence. Improved prison labour may reduce the costs of prison on the one hand, and serve as a better rehabilitative mechanism for the prisoners on the other hand.