RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Crime and Economic Incentives JF Journal of Human Resources JO J Hum Resour FD University of Wisconsin Press SP 958 OP 979 DO 10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.4.958 VO XXXIX IS 4 A1 Machin, Stephen A1 Meghir, Costas YR 2004 UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/4/958.abstract AB We explore the role that economic incentives, particularly changes in wages at the bottom end of the wage distribution, play in determining crime rates. We use data on the police force areas of England and Wales between 1975 and 1996 and find (relative) falls in the wages of low-wage workers lead to increases in crime. We carry out a number of experiments with different wage measures, including a wage measure that accounts for the effects of changes in the composition of employment. These reinforce the picture of a strong association between the low-wage labor market and crime. The result that incentives play a central role is reinforced further by the strong impact on crime of deterrence measures and of a measure of the returns to crime.