Serious empirical research on capital punishment in the US began with a pioneering study by Isaac Ehrlich, published in 1975 in the American Economic Review. Some subsequent studies have sometimes found a much weaker deterrent effect, while others have found a much stronger effect.
随着艾萨克·尔里奇1975年在美国经济评论杂志上发表开创性的研究报告，美国开始了对死刑问题严肃认真的经验主义研究。后来的某些研究有时发现死刑的震慑力大为弱小，而另一些则发现其震慑力更为强大。但是，现有的数据十分有限，因此，不应当仅仅以计量经济学的证据来得出结论。