New perspectives on economic crime

Criminology traditionally focuses on crimes against property and person, on deviant behaviour, and on treatment of offenders. Dominating fields of study are psychiatry, psychology and sociology. Without diminishing the importance of the traditional research it is clear that crime in business, such as illegal pollution, tax evasion, infringement of brand name and so on requires contributions from other sciences as well. Obvious disciplines are business administration, economics and information technology. The focus on deviant behaviour and treatment may explain why crime in business is neglected relative to its importance. Economic incentives to circumvent the law arise whenever a state imposes costly regulations. This is true for taxes and tolls, as well as for restrictions on, for example, trade or effluence. Obedience to law presumes supervision and various types of sanctions. If regulations are to be followed, a loyalty to the authorities also has to prevail. Laws and rules have, in other words, to be both ethically and economically defensible, and in line with the public sense of justice. Hence research into ethics, various fields of law, history and political science has important contributions to make to the study of crime.