Misconduct, Metrics, and Motivation: Incentive-Driven Changes in Policing Behavior

Abstract

Because managers are responsible for running their organizations in a sound manner, they may be held accountable for supervisory failures when subordinates commit misconduct, which can in turn hinder their chances of promotion. This study reveals that such promotion incentives for public officials can distort organizational performance. Using data from the Japanese police, the analysis investigates how misconduct committed by individual officers affects station-level performance indicators, such as the number of arrests and the clearance rate. The results show that when a disciplinary action within a police station is publicly announced, the police station’s performance improves during that year. This improvement is not driven by changes in the behavior of the disciplined officers or citizens, but rather by the promotion incentives of the police station chief.