IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/adl/wpaper/1998-03.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Intertemporal Model of Rational Criminal Choice

Author

Listed:
  • Jenny Williams

    (School of Economics, University of Adelaide)

  • Robin C. Sickles

    (Rice University)

Abstract

This research presents a dynamic model of crime in which agents anticipate future consequences of their actions. Current period decisions affect future outcomes by a process of capital accumulation. While investigating the role of human capital, the focus of our study is on a form of capital that has received somewhat less attention in the literature, social capital. Social capital is an index of one's 'stock' in society. Introduction of social capital into the utility function results in an intertemporally nonseparable preference structure which admits state dependence in the decision to participate in crime. Our model is empirically implemented using panel data on a sample from the 1958 Philadelphia Birth Cohort Study. In estimation, we take account of unobserved choices in states not realized, which potentially depend on individual specific heterogeneity, by using simulation techniques. Our results provide evidence of state dependence in the decision to participate in crime. We also find that the initial level of social capital stock is important in determining the pattern of criminal involvement in adulthood.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenny Williams & Robin C. Sickles, 1998. "Intertemporal Model of Rational Criminal Choice," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 1998-03, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:adl:wpaper:1998-03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://media.adelaide.edu.au/economics/papers/doc/wp1998-03.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sickles, Robin C. & Williams, Jenny, 2008. "Turning from crime: A dynamic perspective," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 158-173, July.
    2. Entorf Horst, 2009. "Crime and the Labour Market: Evidence from a Survey of Inmates," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 229(2-3), pages 254-269, April.
    3. Susumu Imai & Kala Krishna, 2001. "Employment, Dynamic Deterrence and Crime," NBER Working Papers 8281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Guyonne Kalb & Jenny Williams, 2002. "Industrial Relations Reform and Business Performance: An Introduction," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2002n04, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    human capital; crimes; dynamic analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:adl:wpaper:1998-03. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Qazi Haque (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/decadau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.