John Knowles: Published Papers

Title: Racial Bias in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and Evidence

Authors: John Knowles, Nicola Persico and Petra Todd

Journal: Journal of Political Economy, 2001 V109(11) pages 203-229

First Version: September, 2000.

Abstract:

African-American motorists are much more likely than white motorists to have their cars searched by police checking for illegal drugs. This paper develops a model of police and motorist behavior that suggests an empirical test for distinguishing whether this disparity is due to racial prejudice or to the police's objective to maximize arrests. When applied to vehicle-search data from Maryland, our test results are consistent with the hypothesis of no racial prejudice against African-American motorists. However, if police only have utility for searches yielding large drug finds, then our analysis would suggest bias against white drivers. The model's prediction regarding non-race characteristics is also largely supported by the data.

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