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Sjögren, Hans; Skog, Göran --- "Introduction" [2004] ELECD 82; in Sjögren, Hans; Skogh, Göran (eds), "New Perspectives on Economic Crime" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004)

Book Title: New Perspectives on Economic Crime

Editor(s): Sjögren, Hans; Skogh, Göran

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843766452

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Introduction

Author(s): Sjögren, Hans; Skog, Göran

Number of pages: 4

Extract:

1. Introduction
Hans Sjögren and Göran Skogh

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.
An important obstacle in the fight against crime in business is the limited
enforcement in an open society. Physical and human capital moves easily
between territories, while crime control mainly remains national. Moreover,
individual loyalties differ and change ­ norms are neither globally unified nor
static. Hence new incentives to gain profit ...