Theoretical models for welfare analysis of public security policies

• Grant number: 15/26082-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: April 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Social Welfare Economics
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Reis Soares
• Grantee: Eduardo Ferraz Castelo Branco Ferreira
• Host Institution: Escola de Economia de São Paulo (EESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/19823-5 - Socially optimal public security policy and educational attainement, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

The impact of crime on the social welfare, particularly in Brazil, highlights the importance of public security policies. The literature of crime economics have been focusing to obtain some measures of effects of security policies on deterrence and, marginally, incapacitation of offenders. The most recent theoretical models of crime do not treat the matter of public security as an essential issue and the welfare analysis in environments where agents can commit crimes usually neglect most of the sources of inefficiency of crimes and, additionally, do not make normative analysis. This research project aims to enrich the cost-benefit analysis of such policies presenting new dynamic models in a set-up where there are offenders. The first one is a dynamic Markovian model, while the second one will be a general equilibrium model in order to investigate the limits of efficiency gains obtained by a social planner through public security policies. As a last step, a field research with prisoners will be conducted. Prisoners will be interviewed and, according to the results we will try to identify characteristics that cause prison or crime. (AU)