NCJ Number
84143
Date Published
1981
Length
75 pages
Annotation
This literature survey relating economic factors to crime provides weak support for simple economic models of crime which view high unemployment, low incomes, and high returns for illegal activity as major factors causing crime, while showing that economic factors have varying influences on different types of crime.
Abstract
The survey provides most support for a relationship between property crimes and adverse economic factors. Within the area of property crime, however, rising unemployment is likely to decrease the opportunity for employee theft but make traditional property crimes such as shoplifting, burglary, and robbery more likely. The literature also suggests that it is not just economic deprivation versus good opportunities that leads to higher crime rates, but relative economic positions and overall satisfaction with work are also important factors in determining crime levels. The rate of inflation and the level of government regulation may also have important effects on tax evasion and other offenses designed to reduce the cost of conforming to government regulations. Unemployment may tend to increase more violent crimes, because unemployment allows more time for interpersonal contact in nonstructured environments, lowers the opportunity cost of crime, and often causes greater family stress. Extensive tabular data are provided to show the relation between economic factors and particular offenses. A total of 99 references and 8 notes are provided. (Author summary modified)