White Collar and Corporate Frauds Understanding Public Policy Preferences

The purpose of this research is to (1) provide evidence on the cost of white-collar and corporate frauds, (2) assess the public's willingness-to-pay varies with policy alternatives such as civil versus criminal adjudication, and (3) examine how the public's willingness-to-pay varies by the information provided on factors such as the details of the offense, the offender, the victim, and the institutional approach to handling the offense. This project will conduct a literature review and, develop and conduct a survey on the public's willingness-to-pay. An interdisciplinary panel of experts will assess (1) crimes to be included in the survey and the range of harms associated with those crimes, (2) develop appropriate crime definitions, and (3) make relevant distinctions between institutional approaches to dealing with crimes (e.g. civil/administrative, private litigation, criminal charges). Two focus groups of 8-10 citizens from the general population will also assist by assuring that crime definitions and survey questions are understandable and meaningful to the general population. The survey will be piloted and then administered to a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. residents age 18 and older. Statistical modeling and empirical estimation will determine the willingness-to-pay to reduce crime as a function of crime specific factors (e.g. dollar amount taken, impact of victim), offender specific factors (e.g. past criminal history), and demographic characteristics of the respondent.ca/ncf