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Article
Publication date: 12 January 2015

Rodrigo R. Soares

Negative effects of crime encompass several different dimensions. As a result, there is no existing methodology capable of dealing with all the relevant issues simultaneously and…

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Abstract

Purpose

Negative effects of crime encompass several different dimensions. As a result, there is no existing methodology capable of dealing with all the relevant issues simultaneously and the interpretation of the estimates currently available lacks theoretical foundation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a unified view of the meaning and relationship between the various dimensions of the welfare cost of crime and violence available in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper develops a theoretical model of crime and illustrates the different interpretations of welfare costs of crime and violence within this unified framework. This theoretical benchmark is then used as a benchmark to review the empirical literature on the topic.

Findings

The analysis suggests that the most commonly estimated dimension of the welfare cost of crime − related to the total loss associated with crime − although relevant as an illustrative tool, is not very useful from a policy perspective. The literature should therefore move closer to the idea of estimating marginal costs and benefits in order to become policy relevant.

Research limitations/implications

Policy-oriented research related to optimal law enforcement should move in the direction of estimating the marginal willingness to pay of individuals for reductions in crime. This should be compared to the marginal cost of alternative policies in order to guide public policy in the area.

Originality/value

This survey rationalizes in economic terms the estimates from the existing methodologies, highlights some of their limitations, and points out potential directions for future research. It provides one of the first unified views of the various dimensions of welfare cost of crime and violence that have been presented in the literature.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2020

Nataliia Volodumurivna Smetanina and Kateryna Dmitryevna Kulyk

This paper aims to analyze the cost of crime as understood in Ukrainian and foreign criminology, investigating both the direct and indirect damage caused by crime, its social…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the cost of crime as understood in Ukrainian and foreign criminology, investigating both the direct and indirect damage caused by crime, its social consequences and Ukrainians’ attitudes toward its costs.

Design/methodology/approach

From January 2018 to May 2019, data were gathered using an online questionnaire from 717 respondents between 14 and 65 years of age residing in all regions of Ukraine.

Findings

Results suggest a high level of concern among Ukrainian citizens regarding security and crime. Latent criminality, crime rates and mistrust of law enforcement are high in Ukraine. It was found that the total cost of crime to the respondents (losses from crimes) reached UAH2m, and 69.3 per cent reported fear of becoming a victim of crime, with 26.2 per cent indicating that they had already been victims.

Practical implications

The knowledge of the cost of crime obtained in this study is vital for understanding crime in Ukraine. The results could be effectively leveraged to develop effective and cost-efficient means of combating crime. They could also be used to forecast crime rates, and thus, optimize future responses to the challenges of crime.

Originality/value

This is the first comprehensive study of the cost of crime in Ukraine and it indicates both the tangible and intangible costs of the damage it inflicts. Notwithstanding the country-specific case-study context, the results could inform discussions and decisions at a broader international scale, subject to the usual caveats.

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2008

Kevin Albertson and Chris Fox

The measurement of the costs of crime is an increasingly important topic in established industrial economies. Such costs imply a substantial loss in both tangible and intangible…

Abstract

The measurement of the costs of crime is an increasingly important topic in established industrial economies. Such costs imply a substantial loss in both tangible and intangible productivity, opportunity cost, resource use and quality of life. Here, we summarise the results of the latest research in the UK, and show that researchers are using increasingly accurate costs and indices analyses to allow the calculation of the costs of criminal activity.

Details

Safer Communities, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-8043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2017

Matt DeLisi, Dennis E. Reidy, Mark H. Heirigs, Jennifer J. Tostlebe and Michael G. Vaughn

That psychopathy imposes substantial societal costs and economic burden is axiomatic, but monetization studies have overlooked cost estimates of the disorder. The paper aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

That psychopathy imposes substantial societal costs and economic burden is axiomatic, but monetization studies have overlooked cost estimates of the disorder. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on a near census of institutionalized delinquents from Missouri, the current study devised new crime cost measures for self-reported offending.

Findings

Youth imposed $30 million in total costs annually in large part due to extensive involvement in robbery, theft, and assault. The most criminally active youth imposed costs in excess of $700 million. Psychopathy features were differentially correlated with crime costs. APSD-SR callous-unemotional traits, mPPI-SF Blame Externalization, mPPI-SF Machiavellian Egocentricity, and mPPI-SF Social Potency were significantly associated with between four and five crime costs. Psychopathic traits associated with ruthless self-interest, callousness, and expectations to control and dominate others manifest in diverse ways including serious violence and repeated property crime. Other features such as mPPI-SF Impulsive Nonconformity, mPPI-SF Stress Immunity, mPPI-SF Coldheartedness, mPPI-SF Carefree Nonplanfulness, mPPI-SF Fearlessness, APSD-SR Impulsivity, and APSD-SR Narcissism had limited associations with crime costs.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first monetization study to quantify the effects of assorted psychopathy features on crime costs.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Andrew Torre and Darryl Whitford Coulthard

The purpose of this paper is to recognise and provide an approach to estimate the value of an institution that produces a public good to the wealth of a nation. Specifically, the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to recognise and provide an approach to estimate the value of an institution that produces a public good to the wealth of a nation. Specifically, the authors value utilitarian justice.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs the classical economic theories of crime and shadow pricing to estimate the total economic value and shadow prices or social productivity of police and higher court deterrence. These measures are estimated using the definitions provided by Dasgupta and by re-engineering key deterrence elasticity estimates gleaned from Australian econometric studies.

Findings

The empirical findings suggest a relatively high social value for police and higher court deterrence. Notwithstanding, addressing socio-economic disadvantage is likely to prevent more subsequent offences than directing more resources to the operation of the criminal justice system.

Research limitations/implications

The key limitations involve the sensitivity of the estimates to error. Further work is required on all the estimates in the model and in particular the social costs of the serious offences. The next step is to estimate the opportunity cost of supplying police and court deterrence. The cost estimate can then be combined with the estimates of social benefits to estimate a benefit-cost ratio. The model in broad terms demonstrates a way forward to estimating the economic value of and the social productivity of the criminal justice system. The provision of retributive justice is also ignored in this contribution. This requires a separate analysis.

Social implications

The social implications are that there appears a way to both justify and evaluate the criminal justice system and this methodology may be applied to the operation of other public services.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper lies in suggesting a method to solve the valuation problem for the jointly produced public goods of the higher courts and police.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 48 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

David Peacock

In a study dedicated to the cost of crime, the Centre for Sociological Research on Law and Criminal Institutions (Cesdip) highlights the scale of white‐collar offending, such as…

Abstract

In a study dedicated to the cost of crime, the Centre for Sociological Research on Law and Criminal Institutions (Cesdip) highlights the scale of white‐collar offending, such as tax evasion and economic and financial crime. In 1991 these invisible crimes cost the community dearly: tax evasion entailed lost revenues totalling Ffl38bn — equivalent to the 1991 budget deficit — while economic and financial crime represented a cost of more than Ff6bn. The cost of these offences has gone up continuously — a Ff20bn increase for tax evasion alone between 1988 and 1991. These amounts must be compared with the losses deriving from traditional crimes like thefts; in 1991 the cost of this offence was FD.5bn, that is about half that of economic and financial crime.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2004

Joshua Bamfield

A self‐report questionnaire was used to discover key shrinkage, theft and loss prevention data from 476 major European retailers (23 per cent of West Europe's retail turnover) in…

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Abstract

A self‐report questionnaire was used to discover key shrinkage, theft and loss prevention data from 476 major European retailers (23 per cent of West Europe's retail turnover) in 16 countries for the financial year 2001‐2002. The response rate was 33 per cent. Shrinkage rates were found to vary considerably between countries with a weighted average of 1.45 per cent (1.42 per cent in 2000/2001), equivalent to €30,310 million (or $27,582 million). A total of 18.3 per cent of shrinkage was perceived to be caused by “internal error” rather than crime and this estimate is deducted from shrinkage to derive the crime figure. Retail crime cost retailers €30,407 million ($27,670 million). In contrast to US data, customer theft was seen as the most important crime cost, followed by employee theft, security costs and supplier theft. Stores apprehended more than 1.2 million thieves in 2001/2002, but passed only 25.7 per cent to the police.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 32 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2007

Judy Renshaw

Resettlement programmes provide support for young offenders during their custodial sentence and for approximately nine months after release. This article describes how the costs

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Abstract

Resettlement programmes provide support for young offenders during their custodial sentence and for approximately nine months after release. This article describes how the costs and benefits of providing an effective service of this kind were estimated based on the ‘RESET’ programme, published evidence on the costs of crime and the likely reduction in offending due to an intensive support programme. The cost of crime has been estimated at £46,459 per year (after allowing for a reduction due to the time spent in custody), plus prison custody at an average of £30,475 and emergency accommodation at an average of £1,106, making a total of £78,040 for each offender. Using a fairly modest assumption that good support in resettlement could lead to approximately a 35% reduction in frequency and a 10% reduction in seriousness of offending, a saving of £20,407 per offender per year could be achieved. These savings would more than offset the average cost of a good quality resettlement service of £8,074. The scheme would break even if the frequency of offending were reduced by only 20%.

Details

Journal of Children's Services, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-6660

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 December 2004

Fahrettin Okcabol

The focus of this paper is to provide an understanding to the economics of accounting crime. The accounting crime is considered to be part of the white-collar crime, where…

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to provide an understanding to the economics of accounting crime. The accounting crime is considered to be part of the white-collar crime, where economists believe that white-collar criminals are rational men. Thus, this paper assumes that a person commits an accounting crime is a rational man. In making choices, the criminal managers take account of expected gains and costs from various available actions. If they estimate that there is a net gain from their actions, they do commit an accounting crime. External pressures, internal pressures, capital requirements, and compensation pressures are the circumstances that may lead managers to commit an accounting crime. The paper concludes by arguing that if white-collar criminals know that costs of their action are more than the benefits of the action, as a rational man they will not take that action. Thus, the most important step to prevent white-collar crime is to make the cost of the crime so high that it will never generate an estimated net gain for white-collar criminals.

Details

Re-Inventing Realities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-307-5

Book part
Publication date: 11 November 1994

E. Eide

Abstract

Details

Economics of Crime: Deterrence and the Rational Offender
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-44482-072-3

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