The economic theory of crime is based on the assumption that rational individuals act to maximize their utility given the possibility of allocating their time or resources to different activities (including crime). Withers (1984) represents the only significant, aggregative empirical analysis of...

Analysis of a combined cross-sectional/time-series sample of records of the activities of patrol officers, reports of breaches of fisheries regulations, and associated court records in Queensland lends support to the hypothesis that economic factors are important in determining crime rates. An...