This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. Journal of Economic Perspectives
  4. Winter 1996
  5. Help Wanted: Economists, Crime and Public Policy

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

Help Wanted: Economists, Crime and Public Policy

  • John J. DiIulio
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 10, no. 1, Winter 1996
(pp. 3–24)
Download Full Text PDF
(Complimentary)

Abstract

Beginning with Gary W. Becker's (1968) article on crime and punishment, economists have contributed important theoretical insights and empirical findings to the study of criminal behavior but the influence of economists on crime-relevant research and over policy debates remains negligible. This essay summarizes some basic data on the causes of crime, the social costs and benefits of incarceration, and replenishing social capital. Work on crime by economists should become influential in setting research agendas and shaping policy debates but economists will have to roll up their sleeves, complexify their models, and confront a real-world 'prisoner's dilemma' or two.

Citation

DiIulio, John J. 1996. "Help Wanted: Economists, Crime and Public Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives 10 (1): 3–24. DOI: 10.1257/jep.10.1.3

JEL Classification

  • K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
  • A11 Role of Economics; Role of Economists