Behavioral Criminal Law and Economics

McAdams, Richard H.; Ulen, Thomas S.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1299963

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…In his seminal article on economic approaches to criminal law, Becker () emphasized that enforcement is done by the state, rather than victims, and hence the state bears the cost of detecting, prosecuting, and punishing offenders. Limited resources constrain expenditure on enforcement, and are assumed to be allocated according to rational calculations about costs and benefits (McAdams & Ulen ). To maximize social welfare, microeconomic models determine optimum levels of expenditure and enforcement, and the magnitude and forms sanctions (fine, imprisonment, or a combination) required to optimally deter crime.…”

Section: Legal Theories On Social Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legislating Change? Responses to Criminalizing Female Genital Cutting in Senegal

Shell‐Duncan¹,

Hernlund²,

Wander³

et al. 2013

Law Soc Rev

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Although the international community has recently promoted legislation as an important reform strategy for ending female genital cutting (FGC), there exist divergent views on its potential effects. Supporters argue that legal prohibition of FGC has a general deterrent effect, while others argue legislation can be perceived as coercive, and derail local efforts to end the practice. This study examines the range of responses observed in rural Senegal, where a 1999 anti-FGC law was imposed on communities in which the practice was being actively contested and targeted for elimination. Drawing on data from a mixed-methods study, we analyze responses in relation to two leading theories on social regulation, the law and economics and law and society paradigms, which make divergent predictions on the interplay between social norms and legal norms. Among supporters of FGC, legal norms ran counter to social norms, and did little to deter the practice, and in some instances incited reactance or drove the practice underground. Conversely, where FGC was being contested, legislation served to strengthen the stance of those contemplating or favoring abandonment. We conclude that legislation can complement other reform strategies by creating an “enabling environment” that supports those who have or wish to abandon FGC.

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Section: Legal Theories On Social Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legislating Change? Responses to Criminalizing Female Genital Cutting in Senegal

Shell‐Duncan¹,

Hernlund²,

Wander³

et al. 2013

Law Soc Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…I then draw on the findings from the existing research from behavioral economics that has shed light on anomalies present in (analog) standard models, and how such refinements might serve both theory and policy. Importantly, although not explored in this article, this same, general framework of incorporating behavioral decision-making concepts to standard rational choice models can be applied to other actors in the criminal justice system, including judges, trial defendants, police, victims, and juries (see, e.g., Jolls, Sunstein, & Thaler, 1998;McAdams & Ulen, 2008;Wilson, 2019, pp. 785-805).…”

Section: Behavioral Economics: Rational Choice As a Starting Pointmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral criminology and public policy

Loughran

2019

Criminology & Public Policy

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Research Summary Public policy, including crime policy, is heavily shaped by economic theory. Recently, refinements based on the application of behavioral insights into the study of public policy applications have become en vogue. Although criminologists have made some inroads into incorporating behavioral principals into the study of crime and offender decision‐making, these contributions have mainly been limited to the area of risk. In this article, I offer a more widespread description of how behavioral economics (BE) can be applied to the study of offender decision‐making and crime policy. Specifically, I focus on several main areas that move beyond the traditional foci on perceptions of risk: intertemporal choice, criminal labor supply, mental accounting and consumption, and social preferences. For each topical area, I first identify a presumable, normative model that could reasonably be drawn from traditional rational choice theory. I then describe ways, based on existing contributions from BE, that scholars have sought to make the assumptions (and anomalies) of this model more realistic. Policy Implications The primary aim of this article is to highlight implications to theory and policy that increase the utilization of BE by criminologists.

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“…In order to make this comparison, the theory assumes that criminals are aware of the chances of successfully committing a crime, as well as the costs of possible penalties and the likelihood of being arrested. Furthermore, the rational potential offender assesses the results they expect to obtain both from the criminal activity and the legal activity, and then decides how to allocate their resources so that the marginal net benefit is comparable between the two (McAdams & Ulen, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

After the economic crisis of 2008: Economic conditions and crime in the last decade for the case of Spain

Torres-Téllez

Soler

2023

American J Econ Sociol

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The economic approach to crime confirms that the deterioration of economic conditions influences the motivation of potential offenders to commit a crime or not. The relationship between crime and the economy status received considerable attention among the international literature. However, in Spain, there are just few studies that analyse this connection, and those that analyse the influence of the deterioration of the economy on crime after the crisis that began in 2008 are practically nonexistent. In order to fill this gap, this research applies the difference-GMM estimator for a sample of 47 provinces during the 2010-2018 period and controls the influence of different economic, demographic and dissuasive factors on the crime rate. The results obtained are similar to those of different investigations, since in the face of worsening economic conditions, no evidence of a positive and uniform effect on the crime rate is detected, especially when it differs according to different types of crimes possible. However, that relationship does exist and is robust in property crimes. Another common result in the empirical literature is also confirmed: adolescent male cohorts present the highest crime rates.

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Behavioral Criminal Law and Economics

Cited by 14 publications

References 77 publications

Legislating Change? Responses to Criminalizing Female Genital Cutting in Senegal

Legislating Change? Responses to Criminalizing Female Genital Cutting in Senegal

Behavioral criminology and public policy

After the economic crisis of 2008: Economic conditions and crime in the last decade for the case of Spain

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