Economic Crime

Code:

MCO104

Acronym:

CE

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Criminology

Instance: 2017/2018 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Criminology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MC	12	Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2017	1	-	3	-

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

With the first part of the program, we intend to present important contributions of the economic science to the study of the crime, justice and security phenomena, in particular at the level of rational choice theory, namely those arising from the integration of game theory and its framing in deterrence studies; and at the level of efficiency analysis of intervention programs in crime that requires controlling costs of crime estimation methodologies.
With the tools of analysis that result from such contributions, it becomes possible to study more broadly the criminal phenomenon and, in particular, those that fall within the so-called economic and financial crimes (and especially white-collar crimes) to which the second part of the program is dedicated.
In the second part of the lectures, in addition to explaining the differences between this type of crime and other offenses, the attention is directed to the presentation of the theories explaining their commitment, emphasizing the role of market failures in the creation of opportunities for economic and financial crime, as well as the most recent advances in the literature on the role of social inequality and anomie in the commitment of this type of crimes.

Learning outcomes and competences

With the frequency and conclusion of this curricular unit, students are expected to be able to present and explain the foundations as well as the most recent work in the field of rational choice theory, to explain the integration of new contributions of economic science, namely game theory, in the best explanation of antisocial and delinquent behaviour.
It is also intended that students know how to localize the analysis of the effectiveness of intervention programs in crime as an integral part of those programmes and to explain the utility of the methodologies to estimate the costs of crime.
With this curricular unit, students are also expected to be able to distinguish economic and financial crimes (and especially white-collar crimes) from other crimes and to present the most important contributions of science in explaining the commitment of such offences. In the context of explanatory theories, it is intended that students be able to explain the role of market failures in creating opportunities for economic and financial crime, as well as the most recent advances in the literature on the role of social inequality and anomie in the commitment of such crimes.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

N.A.

Program

A. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES

A1) Nature of economic and financial crime; characteristics of offenders and explicatiive theories
1.a) Definition;
1.b) The offender, nature of the crime, damages and victimization;
1.c) Theories of crime

A2) Market failures and opportunity for economic and financial crime
2.a) The problem of market failures (public and common goods, externalities, monopoly);
2.b) Asymmetries of information and the agency theory;
2.c) Types of economis and financial crimes that derive from market failures: environmental crime; crimes against consumers; crimes against competition; crimes against shareholders; crimes against the state (lobbying, corruption and public procurement; tax evasion), crimes of finance institutions; occupational crime. 

A3) Anomia, desigualdade e crime económico e financeiro.

B. ECONOMICS OF THE CRIME

B1) Damage caused by white-collar crimes

B2) Deterrence of economic and financial offenses

B3) Efficiency analysis of intervention programs in economic and financial offenses.

Mandatory literature

Baird Douglas G. 1953-; Game theory and the law. ISBN: 0-674-34111-2
Becker Gary S. 340; Essays in the economics of crime and punishment. ISBN: 0-87014-263-1
Becker, G.; Crime and punishment: An economic approach, Journal of Political Economy, 76, 169-217, 1968
Brand, S. & Price, R.; The economic and social costs of crime, Home Office Research Studies, 2000
Cohen Mark A.; The^costs of crime and justice. ISBN: 0-415-70073-6
Cruz José Manuel Neves 1965-; Economia e política. ISBN: 978-972-32-1583-0
Cruz José Manuel Neves 1965- 340; Infrações económicas e financeiras. ISBN: 978-972-32-2170-1
Czabanski Jacek; Estimates of cost of crime. ISBN: 978-3-642-08919-0
Dias, T. & Sousa, Pedro; Explicit social costs of crime in a time of crisis: Costs of law enforcement in drivers' crimes, Institute of Economic Sciences (Belgrad, Serbia), 2012
Dixit Avinash K.; The^art of strategy. ISBN: 978-0-393-06243-4
Eide, E, Rubin, P., & Shepherd, J.; Economics of Crime, Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, 2(3), 205-279, 2006
Friedrichs David O.; Trusted criminals. ISBN: 978-0-495-60082-4
Kirchner, R., Przybylski, R. & Cardella, R.; Assessing the effectiveness of criminal justice programs - Assessment and evaluation, Justice Research and Statistics Association, 1994
Loughran, T., Paternoster, R., Chalfin, A. & Wilson, T.; Can rational choice be considered a general theory of crime? Evidence from individual-level panel data, Criminology, 54(1), 86-112, 2016
Nagin, D.; Deterrence in the Twenty-first century, Crime and Justice, 41(1), 199-263., 2013
Robbins Stephen P.; Organizational behavior. ISBN: 978-1-292-14630-0
Roberts John; The^modern firm. ISBN: 978-0-19-829376-7
Welsh Brandon C. 340; Costs and benefits of preventing crime. ISBN: 0-8133-9780-4
Winter, H.; The Economics of Crime - An Introduction to Rational Crime Analysis, Routledge, 2008
Slyke Shanna R. van 340; The^Oxford handbook of white-collar crime. ISBN: 978-0-19-992551-3

Complementary Bibliography

Sunstein Cass R. 340; Behavioral law and economics. ISBN: 978-0-521-66743-2

Comments from the literature

Other references - mainly published scientific articles - will be given to students during lectures.

Teaching methods and learning activities

The theoretical and practical classes begin with a theoretical exposition by the professor. Afterwards, a debate is open to foster the constructive and critical competencies of the students, who will have an active participation in the learning under the guidance of the professors.

The evaluation method is the distributed evaluation without final exam.
No assiduity conditions are required.
The weighting elements for the evaluation are:
1. With 50% weighting of the grade: an individual work on the contents of part A of the program, whose configuration norms and themes will be indicated in the first classes;
2. With the 50% weighting of the grade: a written test in the last class on the contents of part B of the program.
Failure to do any of these two elements of evaluation implies failure in the curricular unit.
The final grade of the curricular unit corresponds to the weighted average of the classifications obtained in the two mentioned evaluation elements.
The written test is done in a post-work schedule, and the date of its implementation is fixed in the first classes of the curricular unit.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	50,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	57,00
Frequência das aulas	24,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

Cf. General regulation on students’ evaluation.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final grade = (0.50xWritten text) + (0.50xWritten test).

Examinations or Special Assignments

Cf. General regulation on students’ evaluation.

Internship work/project

N.A.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Cf. General regulation on students’ evaluation.

Classification improvement

Cf. General regulation on students’ evaluation.