What Makes Courts Show Leniency to Defendants in Economic Crimes? The Role of Crime-Related Economic Characteristics

This study seeks to explore the effect of crime-related economic characteristics on the sentencing of defendants in economic crimes, in terms of prison sentences and fines. Data on sentencing documents for insurance fraud were collected from the “China City Statistical Yearbook” and the Judgments Online platform in China, with a total of 2,123 judgments from 2013 to 2021. We used advanced multiple regression models to test two potential mechanisms including the effect for leniency in prison sentencing and the effect for leniency in fine sentencing. Multi-regression analyses indicated that high levels crime-related economic characteristics and seriousness of crime predicted greater leniency in sentencing. The court's lenient sentencing in economic crimes is mainly reflected in lower prison sentences rather than fines. Further, more favorable circumstances are more likely to be considered by the court in serious economic crimes. Crime-related economic characteristics rather than general economic characteristics are important contextual factors that affect the sentencing of economic crimes. Our study provides new insights into expanding the space for discretion in economic crimes.