Reflections on the original economic approach to crime

Authors

  • Ademir Clemente Universidade Federal do Paraná
  • Angela Welters UPFR

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/re.v33i2.9967

Keywords:

economics of crime, welfare, crime, security, violence, economia do crime, bem-estar, criminalidade, segurança, violência

Abstract

The economic analysis of crime, security and violence is based upon
the original article by Gary S. Becker whose title is Crime and Punishment: an
economic approach. The central piece of Becker’s theoretical model is the
economic reasoning of comparing gains and costs from de individual’s point of
view. Becker assumes that the criminal activity is the result of some social
parameters and then searches for an optimal situation from the social viewpoint,
which is defined as the situation of minimum total cost. Crime, security and
violence have acquired such an importance in the 21st Century that a reflection on
the Becker’s model is required in order to give scientific basis to developing and adopting more effective public policies. This article aims to lend a hand to that
reflection by presenting a significant set of inquiries.

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Published

2007-12-14

How to Cite

Clemente, A., & Welters, A. (2007). Reflections on the original economic approach to crime. Revista De Economia, 33(2). https://doi.org/10.5380/re.v33i2.9967

Issue

Vol. 33 No. 2 (2007)

Section

Artigos

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