NCJ Number
55442
Date Published
1978
Length
271 pages
Annotation
USING SECONDARY DATA SOURCES, 1,000 OF THE LARGEST INDUSTRIAL CORPORATIONS ARE EXAMINED TO STUDY THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL NATURE OF CORPORATIONS TO CRIME, AND TO DERIVE MODELS TO TEST THE DATA.
Abstract
THIS STUDY'S GENERAL HYPOTHESIS WAS THAT THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO CORPORATE CRIME. A MODEL WAS DERIVED FROM THE DATA TO TEST FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM, INTERCORPORATE TIES, AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM. THE PROPOSITIONS UNDERLYING THE MODEL WERE AS FOLLOWS: (1) FIRM SIZE AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO CORPORATE CRIME, AND (2) FIRM SIZE AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS ARE INDIRECTLY RELATED TO THE PROBABILITY OF ESCAPING PUNISHMENT. PRIMARY DEPENDENT VARIABLES WERE CRIME STATUS, OFFENSE TYPE, RECIDIVISM, AND PUNISHMENT. AN APPENDED LISTING OF THE MANY DATA SOURCES INCLUDED TRADE JOURNALS, DIRECTORIES, CENSUS SURVEYS, AND STATISTICAL REPORTS ON MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS. IT WAS FOUND THAT CRIME STATUS WAS SENSITIVE TO CHANGES WITHIN THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM, INCLUDING JOINT VENTURES, INTERLOCKING CORPORATE AFFILIATIONS, AND LONGEVITY. THE ECONOMIC FACTOR ACCOUNTED FOR MOST OF THE EXPLAINED VARIANCE IN CORPORATE CRIME AND WAS ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY DISCRIMINATE AMONG THE VARIOUS OFFENSE TYPES. EXAMINING RECIDIVISM, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE ECONOMIC FACTOR WAS THE BEST SINGLE PREDICTOR OF A CORPORATION'S ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR. THE MOST COMMON SANCTION AGAINST AN INDIVIDUAL'S CRIMINALITY WAS DISMISSAL, AND IT WAS OBSERVED THAT DISMISSAL WAS RELATED TO RECIDIVISM, THE NUMBER OF FIRMS, AND THE ECONOMIC FACTOR. FINALLY, THE MODEL HYPOTHESES EXAMINED WERE SUPPORTED BY THE DATA. TABLES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND AN INDEX ARE PROVIDED.