TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1996//
TI  - The Economic Epidemiology of Crime
JO  - Journal of law and economics
A1  - Philipson, Tomas J.
A1  - Posner, RA
SP  - 405
EP  - 433
VL  - 39
IS  - 2
N2  - Economic analysis of infectious diseases emphasizes the self-correcting character of epidemics, as rising risk of infection causes potential victims to take self-protective measures. We apply the analysis to crime, showing how rational potential victims of crime will take increased self-protective measures in response to rising crime rates, causing those rates to moderate. Victim responses to crime can offset public expenditures on crime control; this implies that there may be a "natural" rate of crime that is difficult for the public sector to affect. We show that victim responses to crime can impart a cyclical pattern to crime rates and discuss the implications of our analysis for gun control and present empirical evidence concerning the responsiveness of self-protective measures to crime rates and the cyclical pattern of those rates.<p />
LA  - 
SN  - 0022-2186
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -