I – INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................ 3

II - DISTINGUISHING CRIMES AND TORTS.......................................................................................... 4

2.1    Crimes are intentional....................................................................................................................... 4

2.2    Other Reasons for Public Enforcement.................................................................................. 4

2.3 - Examples of Private Enforcement................................................................................................. 6

2.4 - Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Criminal Sanctions................................................ 8

III - THE ECONOMIC MODEL OF CRIME............................................................................................. 10

3.1- The Offender's Decision to Commit a Crime and the Supply of Offenses............ 10

3.2- Optimal Punishment............................................................................................................................ 12

3.3 - Repeat Offenders................................................................................................................................... 25

3.4- Incapacitation.......................................................................................................................................... 27

2.5. Empirical Evidence on the Economic Model of Crime...................................................... 27

2.6. The Death Penalty.............................................................................................................................. 29

2.7. Judicial Discretion in Sentencing................................................................................................ 32

2.8. The Bail System*.................................................................................................................................. 33

2.9. Private Protection*............................................................................................................................. 35

3. Plea Bargaining............................................................................................................................................ 37

3.1 Economic Models of Plea Bargaining......................................................................................... 40

3.2    Plea Bargaining and Deterrence............................................................................................. 44

3.3    A Comparative Perspective......................................................................................................... 45

4. Topics................................................................................................................................................................ 48

4.1 Crime and the Business Cycle*...................................................................................................... 48

4.2    Gun Laws and Crime...................................................................................................................... 50

4.3    Primitive Law Enforcement........................................................................................................ 53

4.4    Some Constitutional Issues......................................................................................................... 54

5.    Conclusion................................................................................................................................................. 61

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS....................................................................... 63

EXERCISE 9.1...................................................................................................................................................... 63

EXERCISE 9.2...................................................................................................................................................... 64

EXERCISE 9.3...................................................................................................................................................... 64

PROBLEMS........................................................................................................................................................... 64