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Syllabus of a Semester-Long Course on the Economics of Crime
The following reading list was developed for a semester-long course on economics
and crime taught for economists in the winter of 2004 at the University of Chicago by
Steve Levitt, professor of Economics.
Many thanks to Steve Levitt for allowing us to post this syllabus.
Note: For most articles linked below, you must have a subscription to the
online service listed in order to access the article. If you are viewing this page from the
University of Maryland campus, all links should work using the university's subscriptions.
Article Topics
I. Introduction and Overview
II. Understanding and Testing Models of Criminal Behavior
Non-Economic Theories of Criminal Behavior
Economic Approaches to Understanding Crime
Extensions/Tests of the Economic Model of Crime
Correlation vs Causality
III. The Criminal Justice System
Police
Prisons
Capital Punishment
Juvenile Crime and the Juvenile Justice System
Fighting Crime Using Approaches Outside the Criminal Justice System
IV. Special Topics
Economic Factors, Poverty, Labor Markets, and Income Inequality
Drugs and Alcohol
Gangs
Race, Racial Profiling, and the Criminal Justice System
Guns and Gun Control
White Collar Crime, Cheating, Corruption, and Terrorism
Gambling, Prostitution, and Victimless Crimes
I. Introduction and Overview
Levitt, Steven (2004). "Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors That Explain the Decline
and Six That Do Not." Journal of Economic Perspectives v. 18, n. 1 (Winter 2004): 163-90.
Report to the Nation on Crime and Violence, 1988
Freeman, Richard. "Economics of Crime." Unpublished manuscript.
Walinsky, Adam (1995).
"
The Crisis of Public Order." Atlantic Monthly, v. 276, July 1995, pp. 39-54.
Available from EBSCO.
II. Understanding and Testing Models of Criminal Behavior
Non-Economic Theories of Criminal Behavior
Hirschi, Travis. Causes of Delinquency. Chapter 1.
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 3.
Sampson, Robert and John Laub (1995). Crime in the Making. Harvard University Press, Chapter 9.
Economic Approaches to Understanding Crime
Becker, Gary (1968).
"
Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach." Journal of Political Economy, v. 76:169-217.
Available from JStor.
DiIulio, John (1996).
"
Help Wanted: Economists, Crime, and Public Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives,
v. 10:1-23
Available from JStor.
Becker, Gary (1978). The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. University of Chicago Press, Chapter 1.
Extensions/Tests of the Economic Model of Crime
McCormick, Robert and Robert Tollison (1984).
"
Crime on the Court." Journal of Political Economy, v. 92:223-235.
Available from Jstor.
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 15.
Levitt, Steven (1998).
"
Why Do Increased Arrest Rates Appear to Reduce Crime: Deterrence, Incapacitation, or Measurement
Error?" Economic Inquiry, v. 36:353-372.
Available from NBER.
Kessler, Daniel and Steven Levitt (1999).
"
Using Sentence Enhancements to Distinguish Between Deterrence and
Incapacitation." Journal of Law and Economics, v. 42 (April):343-63.
Available from NBER.
Correlation vs Causality
Leamer, Edward (1983).
"
Let's Take the Con Out of Econometrics." American Economic Review, v. 73 n. 1 (March):31-43.
Available from JStor.
Black, Fischer (1982).
"
The Trouble with Econometric Models." Financial Analysts Journal, March-April:29-37.
Available from EBSCO.
III. The Criminal Justice System
Police
Wilson, James Q. and George Kelling (1982). "Broken Windows." Atlantic Monthly, March.
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 13.
Evans, William and Emily Owens.
"
Flypaper COPS." Working paper.
Available on William Evans' web site.
Levitt, Steven (1997).
"
Using Electoral Cycles in Police Hiring to Estimate the Effect of Police on Crime."
American Economic Review, v. 87 (June):270-290.
Available from Jstor.
Wilson, James Q. (1985). Thinking About Crime, Vintage, Chapter 4.
Prisons
DiIulio, John and Anne Piehl (1991).
"
Does Prison Pay? The Stormy National Debate Over the Cost-Effectiveness of
Imprisonment." The Brookings Review, (Fall):28-35.
Available from EBSCO.
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 16.
Levitt, Steven (1996).
"
The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding
Litigation." Quarterly Journal of Economics, v. 111:319-352.
Available from JStor.
Hopkins, Evans (1997). "Letter from Prison: Lockdown." New Yorker, February 24 and March 3, 1997, pp. 66-71.
Capital Punishment
Katz, Lawrence, Steven Levitt, and Ellen Shustorovich (Forthcoming). "Prison Conditions, Capital Punishment, and
Deterrence." American Law and Economics Review.
Cameron, Samuel (1994).
"
A Review of the Econometric Evidence on the Effect of Capital Punishment." Journal
of Socio-Economics, v. 23 (Spring/Summer):197-214.
Available from EBSCO.
Bailey, William and Ruth Peterson (1994). "Murder, Capital Punishment, and Deterrence: A Review of the Evidence and an
Examination of Police Killings." Journal of Social Issues, v. 50:53-74.
Juvenile Crime and the Juvenile Justice System
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 4.
Levitt, Steven (1999).
"
The Exaggerated Role of Changing Age Structure on Aggregate Crime Rates."
Criminology, vol. 37, no. 3.
Available from ProQuest.
Levitt, Steven (1998).
"
Juvenile Crime and Punishment." Journal of Political Economy, 106:1156-1185.
Available from JStor.
Bennett, William, John DiIulio, and John Walters (1996). Body Count. Simon & Schuster, Chapters 1 & 2.
Humes, Edward (1997). No Matter How Loud I Shout. Simon & Schuster, pp. 23-84.
Fighting Crime Using Approaches Outside the Criminal Justice System
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapters 6 & 9.
Donohue, John and Steven Levitt (2001).
"
The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime." Quarterly Journal
of Economics, (May):379-420.
Available from EBSCO.
Wilson, William Julius (1990). The Truly Disadvantaged. University of Chicago Press, Chapters 1 & 2.
IV. Special Topics
Economic Factors, Poverty, Labor Markets, and Income Inequality
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 8.
Raphael, Stephen and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer (2001).
"
Identifying the Effect of Unemployment on Crime."
Journal of Law & Economics, 44(1):259-284.
Available at the University of Chicago Press.
Miles, Thomas (1998). "Pawn Shops, Crime, and markets for Stolen Property." Unpublished manuscript.
Drugs and Alcohol
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 12.
Miron, Jeff (1995).
"
The Economic Case Against Drug Prohibition." Journal of Economic Perspectives,
v. 9 (Fall):175-192.
Available from JStor.
MacCoun, Robert and Peter Reuter (2001). Drug War Heresies. Cambridge University Press.
Ross, H. Laurence (1992). Confronting Drunk Driving. Yale University Press, Chapters 2 & 3.
Gangs
Padilla, Felix (1992). The Gang as an American Enterprise. Rutgers University Press, Chapter 4.
Levitt, Steven and Sudhir Venkatesh (2000).
"
An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances."
Quarterly Journal of Economics, August.
Available from EBSCO.
Bourgois, Phillipe (2002). Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge University Press.
Wall Street Journal (1999). "Just Sell It: Where Gang Members are Shoe Salesmen." Feb. 2, 1999.
Race, Racial Profiling, and the Criminal Justice System
Tonry, Michael (1996). Malign Neglect. Oxford University Press, Chapter 2.
Knowles, John, Nicola Persico, and Petra Todd (2001).
"
Racial Bias in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and
Evidence." Journal of Political Economy, February.
Available from EBSCO.
Kleck, Gary (1981). "Racial Discrimination in Criminal Sentencing." American Sociological Review,
v. 46:783-805.
Guns and Gun Control
Petersilia, Joan and James Q. Wilson (eds) (2002). Crime. ICS Press, Chapter 11.
Sloan, J.H. et al (1988). "Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities."
New England Journal of Medicine, 319(19):1256-1262 (November).
Duggan, Mark (2001).
"
More Guns, More Crime." Journal of Political Economy, v. 109, n. 5.
Available from EBSCO.
Canada, Geoffrey (1996). Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun. Beacon Press.
White Collar Crime, Cheating, Corruption, and Terrorism
Fisman, Ray (2001).
"
Estimating the Value of Political Connections." American Economic Review, v. 91, n. 4.
Available from EBSCO.
Duggan, Mark and Steven Levitt (2002).
"
Winning Isn't Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling." American
Economic Review, v. 92 (December):1594-1605.
Available from EBSCO.
Abadie, Alberto and J. Gardeazabal (2001).
"
The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case-Control Study for the Basque Country."
Unpublished manuscript, Kennedy School of Government.
Available from Alberto Abadie's web site.
Jacob, Brian and Steven Levitt (2003).
"
Catching Cheating Teachers: The Results of an Unusual Experiment in
Implementing Theory." Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs, pp. 185-209.
Available from EBSCO.
Gambling, Prostitution, and Victimless Crimes
Strumpf, Koleman.
"
Illegal Sports Bookmakers." Unpublished manuscript.
Available from Koleman Strumpf's web site.
Gertler, Paul, et al. (Forthcoming). "Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Commercial Sex." Journal
of Political Economy.
Levitt, Steven (2004). "How Do Markets Function: An Empirical Analysis of Gambling on the National Football League."
Economic Journal, 114 (April): 2043-2066.
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