@workingpaper {682780,
	title = {Prosecutor Politics: The Impact of Election Cycles on Criminal Sentencing in the Era of Rising Incarceration},
	year = {Working Paper},
	abstract = {
	I investigate how political incentives affect the behavior of district attorneys (DAs). \&nbsp;I compile a new comprehensive dataset on the election cycles and offices sought for all district attorneys in office during the steepest rise in incarceration in U.S. history (roughly 1986{\textendash}2006). \&nbsp;Exploiting variation in the timing of elections, I find that being in a DA election year increases per capita admissions and months sentenced to state prisons. \&nbsp;I estimate that the election year effects on admissions are akin to moving 0.85 standard deviations along the distribution of DA behavior within state (e.g., going from the 50th to 80th percentile in the intensity of sentencing activity). \&nbsp;I also find evidence that sentencing outcomes are associated with public sentiment: (1) election effects are higher in Republican counties; (2) election effects depend on county political ideology more than DA ideology, with effects larger in contested elections; (3) anti-Black/pro-White county-level bias is associated with greater punitiveness on Black prisoners throughout the entire election cycle; (4) election effects declined in the era of rising incarceration, closely coinciding with softening public opinion on punishment; and (5) election effects disappeared at the national level after the era of rising incarceration ended. \&nbsp;Taken together, these findings suggest DA behavior and sentencing outcomes may respond to voter preferences{\textemdash}including to racial sentiment and preferences regarding the harshness of the court system. \&nbsp;This paper thus highlights how collective approaches to transforming U.S. public opinion, and not simply technocratic approaches to policy, may be instrumental in curbing mass incarceration.

},
	url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.09169},
	author = {Chika O. Okafor}
}
@article {716981,
	title = {Approaches to Climate Change and the American Public},
	year = {In Preparation}
}
@article {715341,
	title = {Un-Erasing Race},
	journal = {North Carolina Law Review},
	year = {Forthcoming},
	author = {Chika O. Okafor}
}
@article {655212,
	title = {Seeing Through Colorblindness: Social Networks as a Mechanism for Discrimination},
	journal = {Journal of Law and Economics},
	year = {Forthcoming},
	abstract = {
	I study labor markets in which firms both (1) hire via referrals and (2) are race-blind or "colorblind." \&nbsp;I develop an employment model showing that{\textemdash}despite initial equality in ability, employment, wages, and network structure{\textemdash}minorities receive disproportionately fewer jobs through referral and lower expected wages, simply because their social group is smaller. \&nbsp;This discriminatory outcome, which I term "social network discrimination," arises from homophily and falls outside the dominant economics discrimination models{\textemdash}taste-based and statistical. \&nbsp;I calibrate the model using a nationally-representative U.S. sample and estimate the lower-bound welfare gap caused by social network discrimination is up to 3.2 percent, disadvantaging black workers. \&nbsp;This paper isolates a potential underlying mechanism for inequality, adding to the understanding of labor market disparities that have been widely studied across the social sciences. \&nbsp;In doing so, the paper disproves the proposition that "colorblind"\&nbsp;policies are inherently merit-promoting, thereby introducing a new rationale for race-conscious policy.

},
	url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.15988},
	author = {Chika O. Okafor}
}
@article {655213,
	title = {Returning to Eden: Toward a Faith-Based Framing of the Environmental Movement},
	journal = {Villanova Environmental Law Journal},
	volume = {26},
	number = {215},
	year = {2015},
	abstract = {
	This article proposes a major shift in the messaging of the mainstream environmental movement. Instead of relying on logic, the mainstream movement must also cultivate passion. Instead of only appealing to the mind, it must also tap into the heart. Instead of {\textquotedblleft}convincing{\textquotedblright} people, it must also learn to inspire them. By synthesizing concepts from various academic disciplines, including sociology, economics, history, and theology, this article argues that what inspires people is a moral imperative. The best way for the environmental movement to create the essential moral imperative is through religious justifications.

},
	url = {https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1368\&context=elj},
	author = {Chika O. Okafor}
}
