The economic approach to the study of the crime

Abstract

The economic approach to the study of the crime as one of the modern trends in the development of the neo-institutional economics is considered in the article. Despite some similarities the authors reveal the differences between the criminal and civil law that allow you to show the limitations of the traditional theory of the criminal law and the necessity of considering the crime from the point of view of the economic theory. However, in situations when the absolute compensation of the harm is impossible the criminal law supplements the civil one. In the economic theory the behavior of the criminal is seen as rational, implying that if costs of the threatening punishment are higher than the expected benefits from the crime, the crime won't be committed. The economic models are applicable with the greatest validity to the situations of planned, premeditated and prepared crimes. The main feature of the economic approach to the study of the crime allows you to find the tools for suppression of certain crimes, and thus to minimize the social costs of crime.