Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/90015 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7686
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Offenders are more likely than non-offenders to be victims, and victims are more likely than non-victims to be offenders. The overlap between offenders and victims is not well understood in criminology, and in the economics of crime the stylized empirical fact is even widely ignored. The paper gives a survey of leading theoretical interpretations and empirical results. It summarizes findings from criminology and focuses on economic explanations, where rational choice, behavioral economics, as well as bounded and ecological rationality are discussed. The paper presents new econometric evidence based on German survey data covering victimization experiences and criminal activities. Using recursive bivariate Probit modeling, econometric results confirm that victimization depends on offending but not vice versa. Among the joint covariates of the bivariate system, broken homes, criminal records of parents and personal indebtedness turn out as highly relevant factors of offending behavior, whereas individual victimization risks are significantly linked to education, employment and size of peer groups.
Subjects: 
victim-offender overlap
crime
victimization
rational choice
behavioral economics
negative reciprocity
recursive bivariate probit
education and victimization
indebtedness
JEL: 
C35
C25
J12
K42
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
267.02 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.