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Origins of the Economic Approach to Crime and Punishment

  • Thomas Victor Conti EMAIL logo and Marcelo Justus
Published/Copyright: March 27, 2024
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Abstract

The economic approach to crime and punishment began to be applied to a research program based on a rigorous and mathematically structured theoretical model by Becker (1968. “Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach.” Journal of Political Economy 76 (2): 169–217) in his paper Crime and punishment: An economic approach. However, only brief mentions regarding the historical origins of the “economic” thought on crime and punishment can be found in the field’s pioneering modern texts. Thus, our main objective is to rebuild this history. In this paper, we do this by reviewing the thoughts of Adam Smith and Cesare Beccaria (1759–1776). In section one, we show how Smith’s position, despite being different from that of the utilitarian outlook, actually hides passages where the author comes very close to employing an economic rationale to reflect on criminality. In section two, we revisit Beccaria’s arguments and find surprising nuances and exceptions, even though he is a thinker explicitly recognized as influential by Becker and other authors linked to the Law and Economics movement. We conclude by highlighting key insights and looking for a broader history where the economic rationale on crimes and punishments can be traced back from centuries ago to modern times.

JEL Classification: B1; B23; K00

Corresponding author: Thomas Victor Conti, Institute of Public Law (IDP-SP), Insper Institute of Education and Research (Insper), São Paulo, Brazil, E-mail:

This manuscript is an expanded and revised version of a previous draft published in Portuguese as a book chapter in “Economia do Crime no Brasil”.


Award Identifier / Grant number: Productivity in Research Grant (308964/2018-7)

Acknowledgments

Marcelo Justus thanks the National Council for Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) for his productivity in research grant (308964/2018-7).

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Received: 2023-10-05
Accepted: 2024-01-16
Published Online: 2024-03-27

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