This paper examines the impact of private prison contracting by exploiting staggered prison capacity shocks in Mississippi. Motivated by a model based on the typical private prison contract that pays a per diem for each occupied bed, the empirical analysis shows that private prison inmates serve 90 additional days. This is alternatively estimated as 4.8 percent of the average sentence. The delayed release erodes half of the cost savings offered by private contracting and is linked to the greater likelihood of conduct violations in private prisons. The additional days served do not lead to apparent changes in inmate recidivism. (JEL H76, K42)

中文翻译：

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私人监狱合同对囚犯服刑时间和累犯的影响

本文通过利用密西西比州交错的监狱容量冲击来检验私人监狱承包的影响。受基于典型私人监狱合同的模型的启发，该合同为每个占用的床位支付每日津贴，实证分析表明，私人监狱囚犯可额外服刑 90 天。这也被估计为平均句子的 4.8%。延迟释放侵蚀了私人承包所节省的一半成本，并且与私人监狱中违反行为的可能性增加有关。额外的服刑天数不会导致囚犯累犯的明显变化。(JEL H76, K42)