Money and Credit With Limited Commitment and Theft

We study the interplay among imperfect memory, limited commitment, and theft, in an environment that can support monetary exchange and credit. Imperfect memory makes money useful, but it also permits theft to go undetected, and therefore provides lucrative opportunities for thieves. Limited commitment constrains credit arrangements, and the constraints tend to tighten with imperfect memory, as this mitigates punishment for bad behavior in the credit market. Theft matters for optimal monetary policy, but at the optimum theft will not be observed in the model. The Friedman rule is in general not optimal with theft, and the optimal money growth rate tends to rise as the cost of theft falls.

Copper cable theft: revisiting the price–theft hypothesis

Objectives: To test the commonly espoused but little examined hypothesis that fluctuations in the price of metal are associated with changes in the volume of metal theft. Specifically, we analyze the relationship between the price of copper and the number of police recorded 'live’ copper cable thefts from the British railway network (2006 to 2012)

Risks of identity theft: Can the market protect the payment system?

Identity theft has been a feature of financial markets for as long as alternatives have existed to cash transactions. But identity theft has recently occurred on a much larger scale. Data breaches often involve the apparent loss or acknowledged theft of the personal identifying information of thousands--or millions--of people. ; Identity theft poses risks, not only to individuals, but to the integrity and efficiency of the payment system--the policies, procedures, and technology that transfer information for authenticating and settling payments among participants. Identity theft can cause a loss of confidence in the security of certain payment methods and an unwillingness to use them. Markets can cease operating or switch to less efficient payment methods. Either represents a loss of efficiency for the economy. ; Schreft looks at the nature of identity theft today and the factors underlying its mounting risks. She also explores whether markets are able to limit the risks identity theft poses to the payment system.Identity theft ; Payment systems

Property Crime in Alaska 1985–2017

Underlying data is available in both Excel and PDF format. (Download below.)This fact sheet describes Alaska property crime trends from 1985 through 2017, with a focus on motor vehicle theft rate trends. Overall property crime in Alaska increased by 28.6% from 2011 to 2017. Burglary and larceny theft increased moderately, but motor vehicle theft rates tripled from the lowest recorded rate 2011 to the highest recorded rate in 2017. Data is drawn from the annual Crime in Alaska report of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, which represents the State of Alaska's contribution to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) program.Property crime in Alaska / Alaska motor vehicle theft rates / Comparing Alaska to the United States / Year-by-year motor vehicle theft increase / Summary / Note

The when and where of an emerging crime type: the example of metal theft from the railway network of Great Britain

Metal theft has become an increasingly common crime in recent years, but lack of data has limited research into it. The present study used police-recorded crime data to study the spatial and temporal concentration of metal theft from the railway network of Great Britain. Metal theft was found to exhibit only weak seasonality, to be concentrated at night and to cluster in a few locations close to – but not in – major cities. Repeat-victimisation risk continued for longer than has been found for other crime types. These and other features appear to point to metal theft being a planned, rather than opportunistic, offence and to the role of scrap-metal dealers as facilitators

Property Crime Reported in Alaska, 1986–2015

Data available in both Excel and PDF format. (Download below.)This fact sheet presents data on property crime in Alaska from 1986 to 2015 as reported in the Alaska Department of Public Safety publication Crime in Alaska. "Property crime" is an aggregate category that includes burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft crimes. From 1986 to 2015 the property crime rate in Alaska decreased as the overall crime rate decreased. On average, property crime accounted for two-thirds of all crime in Alaska over the thirty-year period.Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of JusticeProperty crime rates / Overall property crime rate / Burglary crime rate / Larceny-theft crime rate / Motor vehicle theft crime rate / Summary / Note

Portable anti-theft device

In this rapid-evolving era, theft and robbery cases related to electronic equipment and vehicles among Malaysians society are more serious and critical. Among the most common cases are related to laptop, car, motorcycle theft and more. Most stolen items cannot be neither traced nor found in the absence of appropriate security systems. A study released by Number in 2016 stated that the crime rate index in Malaysia is highest at 65.56 level. This is the highest crime index in Southeast Asia and the 15th in the world [1]. Clearly, this study has shown the seriousness of theft and robbery in Malaysia. Hence, in order to minimize the crime rate on this matter, a system of rifts is designed and named as "Portable Anti-Theft Device "

THEFT AND RURAL POVERTY: RESULTS OF A NATURAL EXPERIMENT

This paper investigates the relationship between theft and poverty in rural areas. Following a disputed presidential election, fuel supply to the highlands of Madagascar was severely curtailed in early 2002, resulting in a massive -- if temporary -- increase in poverty. This situation constituted a natural experiment of the effect of poverty on theft. Using original survey data collected in June 2002 at the height of the crisis, we find that crop theft increases with poverty and that an increase in law enforcement personnel reduces cattle theft, a form of organized crime. Results suggest that theft is used by some of the rural poor as a risk coping strategy. Increased transport costs led to a rise in cattle and crop theft, suggesting that isolation raises crime.Food Security and Poverty,