Citation

Schrag J, Scotchmer S. Int. Rev. Law Econ. 1997; 17(3): 325-335.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0144-8188(97)00025-2

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Crime is not evenly distributed in the population. There are various explanations for this fact, each of which plays a role in the public debate about solutions. We point out that attempts to trace crime to exogenous factors in the environment or in the moral character of citizens may be doomed to disappointment. Crime is a mutually reinforcing activity, and therefore enforcement parameters or aspects of moral character do not uniquely determine the crime rate. The uneven distribution of crime may simply be an expression of multiple equilibria, and there is no obvious way to make the system coordinate on low-crime equilibria rather than high-crime equilibria.