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... > social science subjects > psychology > behavior mechanisms > behavior (psychology) > antisocial behavior > crime > economics of crime
... > social science subjects > criminology and criminal justice > crimes and offenses > antisocial behavior > crime > economics of crime
... > social science subjects > psychology > behavior mechanisms > human development > mental health, mental disorders, and special groups > antisocial behavior > crime > economics of crime
... > social science subjects > psychology > social psychology > antisocial behavior > crime > economics of crime
social science subjects > criminology and criminal justice > criminology > crime > economics of crime

Preferred term

economics of crime  

Definition

  • The persistence of criminal activity throughout human history and the challenges it imposes for determining optimal law enforcement activity have attracted the attention of utilitarian philosophers and early economists such as Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), William Paley (1743–1805), and Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). It was not until the late 1960s, however, especially following the seminal work by Gary Becker (1968), that economists reconnected with the subject, using the modern tools of economic theory and applied econometrics.The essence of the economic approach lies in the assumption that potential and actual offenders respond to incentives and that the allocation of public and private resources to law enforcement and other means of crime prevention therefore influences the volume of offenses in the population. [Source: Encyclopedia of Law & Society: American and Global Perspectives; Crime, Economics Of]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/economics_of_crime

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