The economics of crime: the new perspectives

Anna Bonanno

Journal "Region: Economics and Sociology", 2006, vol. 1

Abstract: It is shown that a crime is a result of a rational decision made by an individual on the basis of costs-benefits analysis. The economic approach predicts that the rational agent gets involved in some criminal activity when the marginal return from this activity exceeds the marginal return associated with any legal occupation and the probability to be detected and punished. This economic model builds on the assumption that offenders respond to incentives. The paper surveys social-economic and demographic factors explaining not only the individual propensity to crime but also differences in crime rates across places and gives a brief overview of new models by which the empirical evidence on the efficacy of punishment to prevent crime is obtained.

Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nos:regioe:2006-1_14

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