Résumé
The effect of non-binding guidelines (nudges) on citizens' compliance with law has been studied theoretically and empirically in behavioral law and economics. Less is known about the impact of non-binding guidelines on the behavior of law enforcement agents and prosecution. Our work fills this gap. We study whether non-binding guidelines affect law enforcement and prosecution practices when the guidelines are not necessarily aligned with legal actors' preferences. Our empirical analysis focuses on the impact of the adoption of a low priority initiative (LPI) on police and prosecutor behavior in Los Angeles County. Our results suggest that following the introduction of an LPI there is a rise in the number of misdemeanor arrests, but not in the rate that misdemeanor marijuana offenses are dismissed. We conclude that law enforcement preferences have a counterbalancing effect given that police officers may have strong punitive preferences. Prosecutors do not appear to respond to non-binding guidelines as evidenced by no change in the rate of dismissing cases.