Can governments successfully combat bureaucratic corruption by “hiring integrity” from the private sector? This paper examines the impact of hiring private firms to collect information for government anti-corruption efforts. In the past two decades, a number of developing countries have...

This study contributes to the debate on estimating the size of underground economy, by proposing a reinterpretation of the Currency Demand Approach (CDA). Three main innovations are introduced. First, a direct measure of cash transactions is taken as dependent variable in the money demand...

This study contributes to the debate on estimating the size of underground economy, by proposing a reinterpretation of the Currency Demand Approach (CDA). Three main innovations are introduced. First, a direct measure of cash transactions is taken as dependent variable in the money demand...

In modern societies today complete legal descriptions of criminal offenses, related to the illegal audit of public revenues usually appear as tax evasion, customs fraud and smuggling. It will be the crime of smuggling phenomenon, as one of the forms of illegal evasion of public revenue,...

In three distinct disciplines, crime and punishment are studied experimentally: in empirical legal studies, in experimental economics, and an experimental criminology. These three disciplines have surprisingly little interaction. The current paper surveys the rich evidence, and discusses the...

In three distinct disciplines, crime and punishment are studied experimentally: in empirical legal studies, in experimental economics, and an experimental criminology. These three disciplines have surprisingly little interaction. The current paper surveys the rich evidence, and discusses the...

Tax evasion. Illegal drugs. Overseas holdings of U.S. currency. Crime. What these issues have in common is their contribution to the underground economy, that multi-billion dollar entity prospering unofficially outside the realm of the conventional economy. Individually, the six contributors to...

Empirical evidence suggests that family background and parental criminality are strong predictors of an individuals’ criminal behavior. The aim of this paper is to account for this intergenerational nature of criminal behavior within a simple theoretical model. Drawing on the literature of...

This paper proposes a theory of the relationship between prohibitions and temptation. In presence of self-control problems, moral values may increase individual material welfare (and utility) by serving as a self-commitment device. The model investigates the relationship between morality and...

This paper analyzes the implications of potential offenders caring about their relative status. We establish that subjects' status concerns can result in multiple-equilibrium crime rates and may modify the standard comparative-statics results regarding how the crime rate changes in response to a...