The Economics of Crime 6SSPP329
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Department of Political Economy King’s College London The Economics of Crime 6SSPP329 Term 2, 2014-15 Lecturer: Dr. David Skarbek Email: [email protected] Office hours: Thursdays and Fridays, 1pm to 2pm Office: Strand Building, S2.08 Lecture times and locations: Tuesdays from 12 to 1pm at Waterloo, FWB 1.62 Tutorial times and locations: Seminar 1: Tuesdays from 2pm to 3pm at Waterloo FWB 1.61 Seminar 2: Tuesdays from 3pm to 4pm at Waterloo FWB 1.61 Seminar 3: Tuesdays from 4pm to 5pm at Waterloo FWB 1.61 Seminar 4: Tuesdays from 5pm to 6pm at Waterloo FWB 1.61 Module Description This module uses the economic way of thinking to understand criminal behavior in a variety of settings. It examines the rationality behind criminal choices, how governments seek to control crime, alternatives to state-enforcement of criminal law, and how crime affects regions characterized by failed or weak states. Economics provides analytical tools to understand the observed variation in economic activity, the organizational structure of criminal activity, and their broader consequences. 1 Educational aims The aims of this course are to: • to introduce students to the tools of economic analysis that are most relevant for understanding criminal behavior • to develop an understanding of how the economic way of thinking can be used to analyze both historical and contemporary episodes of crime • to provide students with basic tools for understanding statistical research findings • to understand what is unique about illicit markets compared to legal markets • to enable students to draw out the broader implication of their analyses of crime for politics and policy-making. Learning outcomes By the end of this module, students should be able to: • understand how the tools of economic analysis can be used to understand various aspects of crime; • use theories about institutions and governance to understand various aspects of organized crime; • understand historical patterns of crime and incarceration; • understand the implications of economics on public policy Assessment Your performance in this module will be assessed by • One written essay with a maximum of 2,500 words, worth 50% of the final grade for the course. The essay is due on Friday, March 13, 2015 by 4:59pm. • One unseen written examination, worth 50% of the final grade for the course 2 Lecture Program and Readings Complete all required readings prior to lecture and seminar. All required readings are linked to or posted on KEATS. The lecture draws partly from those readings that are marked with an asterisk. 1. What is the Economic Analysis of Crime? 13 January Required *Bill McCarthy. 2002. “New Economics of Sociological Criminology” American Review of Sociology Gary Becker. 1995. “The Economics of Crime” Richmond Federal Reserve Bank David Skarbek. 2014. The Social Order of the Underworld. Chapter 1 John Tierney. 2013. “The Rational Choices of Crack Addicts” New York Times Josh Barro. 2014. “Here’s Why Stealing Cars Went Out of Fashion” New York Times 2. How do Illicit Markets Work? 20 January Required Philip Cook, Jens Ludwig, Sudhir Venkatesh, and Anthony Braga. 2007. “Underground Gun Markets” The Economic Journal Steven Levitt and Sudhir Venkatesh. 2000. “An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang’s Finances” Journal of Political Economy J. Mark Ramseyer. 1991. “Indentured Prostitution in Imperial Japan: Credible Commitments in the Commercial Sex Industry” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization R.A. Radford. 1945. “The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp.” Economica 3 Optional: *Philip Cook. 1986. “The Demand and Supply of Criminal Opportunity” Crime and Justice. Sudhir Venkatesh. 2009. Off the Books: the Underground Economy of the Urban Poor. Harvard University Press. Peter Reuter. 1983. Disorganized Crime: The Economics of the Visible Hand. MIT Press. Movie: Scarface (1983), Cocaine Cowboys (2006), American Gangster (2007) 3. What’s the Best Way to Control Crime? 27 January Required Phil Cook. 2011. “Coproduction in Deterring Crime” Criminology & Public Policy James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. 1982. “Broken Windows” Atlantic Monthly Joseph Goldstein. 2014. “Safer Era Tests Wisdom of ‘Broken Windows’ Focus on Crime New York Times, July 24. Steven Levitt. 2004. “Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not” Journal of Economic Perspectives Peter Reuter and Mark Kleiman. 1986. “An Economic Analysis of Drug Enforcement.” Crime and Justice. Optional *David Friedman. 2001. Law’s Order: What Economics has to do With Law and Why it Matters. Chapter 15. *Anthony M. Yezer. 2014. Economics of Crime and Enforcement. Chapters 1 and 2. Mark Kleiman. 2009. When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment. Princeton University Press. Bruce Benson. 1998. To Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice. New York University Press. Movie: Unforgiven (1992); Minority Report (2002) 4 4. What’s the Difference between Organized Crime and Mafias? 3 February Reading Federico Varese. 2010. “What is Organized Crime?” in Organized Crime, pgs. 14-21 Thomas Schelling. 1971. What is the Business of Organized Crime?” Journal of Public Law. Stergios Skaperdas. 2001. “The Political Economy of Organized Crime: Providing Protection When the State Does Not” Economics of Governance David Skarbek. 2014. The Social Order of the Underworld. Chapter 6. Optional *James Buchanan. 1973. “A Defense of Organized Crime?” from The Economics of Crime and Punishment. Diego Gambetta. 1996. The Sicilian Mafia: the Business of Private Protection. Harvard University Press. Federico Varese. 2005. The Russian Mafia: Private Protection in the New Market Economy. Oxford University Press. Movies: The Godfather (1972), the Godfather: Part 2 (1974), Donnie Brasco (1997) 5. Why Do Organized Crime Groups and Mafias exist? 10 February Required Federico Varese. 1994. “Is Sicily the future of Russia? Private protection and the rise of the Russian Mafia” European Journal of Sociology Federico Varese. 2011. Mafias on the Move. Chapter 2 “Mafia Transplantations” Milhaupt, Curtis J. and Mark D. West. 2000. “The Dark Side of Private Ordering: An Institutional and Empirical Analysis of Organized Crime” University of Chicago Law Review Optional *Andrew Dick. 1995. “When Does Organized Crime Pay? A Transaction Cost Analysis” International Review of Law & Economics 5 Federico Varese. 2011. Mafias on the Move: How Organized Crime Conquers New Territories. Princeton University Press. Movies: Goodfellas (1990) **Reading Week. No Class on 17 February** 6. How Do Criminals Communicate? 24 February Required Peter Leeson. 2010. “Pirational choice: the Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Diego Gambetta. 2009. Codes of the Underworld: How Criminals Communicate. Chapters 1, 2, 5 Optional *Diego Gambetta. 2009. Signaling. The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology, Pages 168-194. Marek Kaminski. 2010. Games Prisoners Play: The Tragicomic Worlds of Polish Prisons. Princeton University Press. 7. Why Do Prison Gangs Exist? 3 March Required David Skarbek. 2014. The Social Order of the Underworld. Chapters 3 & 4 Coretta Phillips. 2012. ‘It Ain’t Nothing like America with the Bloods and the Crips’: Gang Narratives Inside Two English prisons.” Punishment & Society Optional *David Skarbek. 2014. The Social Order of the Underworld. Chapter 2. Movies: Blood in, Blood Out (1993), American Me (1992) 6 8. How Does Prison Social Order Vary Around the World? 10 March Required Sacha Darke. 2013. “Inmate Governance in Brazilian Prisons.” The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Doran Larson. 2013. “Why Scandinavian Prisons are Superior” The Atlantic Magazine Diego Gambetta. 2009. Codes of the Underworld. Chapter 4. Rebecca Trammell. 2011. “Symbolic Violence and Prison Wives: Gender Roles and Protective Pairing in Men’s Prisons” The Prison Journal Kristian Mjaland. 2014. “’A Culture of Sharing’: Drug Exchange in a Norwegian Prison” Punishment & Society. Ani Ucar. 2014. “In the Gay Wing of L.A.’s Men’s Central Jail” LA Weekly Optional *David Skarbek. 2010. “Self-governance in San Pedro Prison.” The Independent Review Drauzio Varella. 1999. Lockdown: Inside Brazil’s Most Dangerous Prison Rusty Young. 2002. Marching Powder. 9. How Do Criminals Organize? 17 March Required Peter Leeson. 2007. “An-arrgh-chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization” Journal of Political Economy David Skarbek. 2014. The Social Order of the Underworld. Chapter 5 Paolo Campana and Federico Varese. 2013. “Cooperation in Criminal Organizations: Kinship and Violence as Credible Commitments” Rationality & Society. Optional Maurizio Catino. 2014. “How Do Mafias Organize?” European Journal of Sociology 7 10. How Would Law Emerge in Anarchy? 24 March Required Mark Koyama. 2012. “Prosecution Associations in Industrial Revolution England: Private Providers of Public Goods?” Journal of Legal Studies. Tyler Cowen. 1992. “Law as a Public Good: the Economics of Anarchy.” Economics and Philosophy Tyler Cowen and Daniel Sutter. 1999. “The Costs of Cooperation.” The Review of Austrian Economics Bryan Caplan and Edward Stringham. 2003. “Networks, Law, and the Paradox of Cooperation.” The Review of Austrian Economics Optional *Benjamin Powell and Edward Stringham. 2009. Public Choice and the Economic Analysis of Anarchy: a Survey.” Public Choice Bruce Benson. 1990. The Enterprise of Law: Justice without the State. Pacific Research Institute. Peter Leeson. 2014. Anarchy Unbound: Why Self-Governance Works Better Than You Think. Cambridge University Press. 8 .