Origins of the Economic Approach to Crime and Punishment

Thomas Conti () and Justus Marcelo ()
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Justus Marcelo: CEA IE/Unicamp – Center for Applied Economics, Agricultural and Environmental Research, Institute of Economics, 28132 University of Campinas , Campinas, Brazil
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Marcelo Justus dos Santos ()

Review of Law & Economics, 2024, vol. 20, issue 2, 203-223

Abstract: The economic approach to crime and punishment began to be applied to a research program based on a rigorous and mathematically structured theoretical model by Becker (1968. “Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach.” Journal of Political Economy 76 (2): 169–217) in his paper Crime and punishment: An economic approach. However, only brief mentions regarding the historical origins of the “economic” thought on crime and punishment can be found in the field’s pioneering modern texts. Thus, our main objective is to rebuild this history. In this paper, we do this by reviewing the thoughts of Adam Smith and Cesare Beccaria (1759–1776). In section one, we show how Smith’s position, despite being different from that of the utilitarian outlook, actually hides passages where the author comes very close to employing an economic rationale to reflect on criminality. In section two, we revisit Beccaria’s arguments and find surprising nuances and exceptions, even though he is a thinker explicitly recognized as influential by Becker and other authors linked to the Law and Economics movement. We conclude by highlighting key insights and looking for a broader history where the economic rationale on crimes and punishments can be traced back from centuries ago to modern times.

Keywords: Adam Smith; Cesare Beccaria; Gary Becker; crime; punishment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B1 B23 K00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1515/rle-2023-0091

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