... the rest of society, and a net social loss would result. The elasticity of the supply of offenses then becomes an important determinant of the optimality con-ditions, because it determines the ... damages, it must also reduce the optimal number of offenses and increase the optimal values of p andf. On the other hand, an increasein the other component of the cost of apprehension and conviction,hasno ... about 2 per cent of the labor force.About one-half were on probation, one-third were institutionalized, and the remaining one-sixth were on parole. The cost of different punishments to an offender...