Crime, Labour and Inequality

The aim of the course is for students to learn about research and the research frontier in the economics of crime at the intersection of crime, labour and inequality.

The seminal economic model of crime (Becker, 1968) puts forward a theory of rational choice between legal and illegal activity. Starting in the 1990s, an empirical literature has taken the model to the data, testing its implications in terms of economic incentives and determinants of crime as well as with respect to crime control and criminal justice policy. The course will introduce students to the rational choice framework of the economic model of crime, as well as to the fast-growing empirical literature in economics, focusing on questions that are relevant from a societal and policy perspective and highlighting empirical approaches that allow for causal inference. The course will further cover recent advances in assessing the social and economic costs of crime, including labour market and inequality perspectives, and discuss the role of economic and social policy as crime control.

The course will highlight the following topics:

• Rational-choice model of crime
• Common challenges in the empirical analysis of crime (e.g., measurement, identification, methods)
• Economic incentives and social determinants of crime (e.g., labour markets, economic returns to crime, education, social conditions, inequality and equality of opportunity)
• Economic and social costs of crime (e.g., costs of victimisation and productivity losses, human capital costs, public health, local economic impacts of crime, discrimination)
• Criminal justice and crime control policy (e.g., deterrence and sanctions, police, substance use legislation, court outcomes and biases in decision-making, economic and social policy as crime control)

Throughout, different types of crime and specific policy implications will be discussed (e.g., property versus violent crime, domestic violence, organised crime, gangs and youth crime).

Literature:
see syllabus

Time & venue:
Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00; University of Potsdam, Campus Griebnitzsee, room 3.06.S13

Exam:
For PhD students, the assessment will be based on a portfolio examination, consisting of a 30-minute presentation (25%) and a 20–25-page long written term paper (75%) on an extended topic.

More information can be found in the course syllabus.