Behavioral Economics and Crime Control Policy

• In Event: Decision Making and Behavioral Economics: Peers, Situations and Police

Abstract

This research organizes and analyzes crime control initiatives that are potentially traceable to Behavioral Economic principles. These include, for example, Prospect Theory, as well as dual process and heuristic decision making. With Nobel Prizes to, now, two pioneers of Behavioral Economics (Kahneman, then Thaler), the field continues to impact a range of social sciences, including criminology. In the last several years, scholars have applied behavioral economics to help elaborate micro-criminological theories (see Pogarsky, Roche, and Pickett, 2018). This project connects these emerging insights to crime control policy. Here we appraise a range of crime control initiatives and strategies, highlighting ones that emerge from and are illuminated by behavioral economic advancements.

Authors

• Shaina Herman, University at Albany, SUNY

• Greg Pogarsky, University at Albany, SUNY