Criminal law enforcement depends on the actions of public agents such as police officers, but the resulting agency problems have been neglected in the law and economics literature (especially outside the specific context of corruption). We develop an agency model of police behavior that...

Expressive crime contrasts with instrumental crime in that delinquents do not seek material benefits. Law breakers are motivated by the desire to ‘make a statement’, possibly against majority attitudes in the society. Fighting expressive crime is complicated by this fact in that increasing...