Graduate Program

Economics

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2005

Thesis Director

Eric Hake

Thesis Committee Member

Mukti Upadhay

Thesis Committee Member

Lawrence Bates

Abstract

Gary Becker's seminal paper laid the foundation for the economic analysis of crime. Using this framework, the government has attempted to increase the costs of crime to a level that effectively deters individuals from criminal activity. Despite the relative lack of discussion in economics, Becker's model suggests alternatives to deterrence. Instead of focusing exclusively on increasing the costs of crime, society can increase the benefits of lawful behavior. Rather than punish the crook, reward the citizen. The purpose of this research is to compare the relative effectiveness of prison and police expansion with prevention programs. Prevention programs aimed at increasing young individuals labor market opportunities via education can provide crime reductions with increased social benefits. A Granger causality test and an ordinary least squares regression analyses are performed to examine the effect of police size and increases in prison spending on the rate of crime. Additionally, a proxy for young individuals is included to assess the potential effectiveness of targeted prevention toward this group. The results indicate output growth, employment, and young individuals have a strong negative relationship with crime while deterrence variables display partially offsetting effects. By increasing income opportunities, education can stimulate each of these statistically significant variables and provide a long-term prevention plan. These theoretical arguments and empirical models provide support for new non-deterrence policy solutions to the problem of crime.

Download

Included in

Economics Commons

Share

COinS