Fighting crime breeds emotional responses which often lead to counter-productive government policy. To allow a rational analysis of these important concerns, this book employs the thinking of economics, political science, and game theory to develop new perspectives on crime and its causes. A basic assumption is that the criminal is a rational actor who makes decisions based on his or her personal expected gains and costs. By using this assumption, predictions about behaviour as well as emotional concerns such as prostitution and gun control are given a theoretical perspective. By understanding the strategic variables which cause, for example, gang wars and drug sales, we are better equipped to design effective public policy.
In the new edition, a chapter on police corruption has been added. The Gangs chapter has been updated and focuses more on evaluating competing hypotheses about gang organization and activity.
Studies in Economic Theory Editors Charalambos D. Aliprantis Purdue University Department of Economics West Lafayette, in 47907-2076 USA Nicholas C. Yannelis University of Illinois Department of Economics Champaign, il 61820 USA Titles in the Series M. A. Khan and N. C. Yannelis (Eds.) Equilibrium Theory in Infinite Dimensional Spaces C. D. Aliprantis, K. C. Border and W. A. J. Luxemburg (Eds.) Positive Operators, Riesz Spaces, and Economics D. G. Saari Geometry of Voting C. D. Aliprantis and K. C. Border Infinite Dimensional Analysis J.-P. Aubin Dynamic Economic Theory M. Kurz (Ed.) Endogenous Economic Fluctuations J.-F. Laslier Tournament Solutions and Majority Voting A. Alkan, C. D. Aliprantis and N. C. Yannelis (Eds.) Theory and Applications J. C. Moore Mathematical Methods for Economic Theory 1 J. C. Moore Mathematical Methods for Economic Theory 2 M. Majumdar, T. Mitra and K. Nishimura Optimization and Chaos K. K. Sieberg Criminal Dilemmas Second Edition M. Florenzano and C. Le Van Finite Dimensional Convexity and Optimization K. Vind Independence, Additivity, Uncertainty T. Cason and C. Noussair (Eds.) Advances in Experimental Markets F. Aleskerov and B. Monjardet Utility Maximization. Choice and Preference N. Schofield Mathematical Methods in Economics and Social Choice C. D. Aliprantis, K. J. Arrow, P. Hammond, F. Kubler, H.-M. Wu and N. C. Yannelis (Eds.) Assets, Beliefs, and Equilibria in Economic Dynamics D. Glycopantis and N. C. Yannelis (Eds.) Differential Information Economies A. Citanna, J. Donaldson, H. M. Polemarchakis, P. Siconolfi and S. E. Spear (Eds.) Essays in Dynamic General Equilibrium Theory M. Kaneko Game Theory and Mutual Misunderstanding S. Basov Multidimensional Screening v. Pasetta Modeling Foundations of Economic Property Rights Theory Katri K. Sieberg Criminal Dilemmas Understanding and Preventing Crime Second Edition with 22 Figures 123 Professor Katri K. Sieberg Department of Political Science Binghamton University Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 USA E-mail:
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