9.21.2012

Forensic economics

As I suspect is common in my cohort, I have a soft spot for "forensic economics," or economic research that documents illicit behavior. You can feel free to blame it on the popular success of Freakonomics, excess fascination with "clever" papers, peer effects of CSI, etc., but there's certainly something to be said for research which not only discovers something new but does so in spite of others' attempts to conceal it. Which is why I was particularly jazzed about this new paper in the Journal of Economic Literature (open access, btw):
Forensic Economics 
Eric Zitzewitz 
Abstract: A new meta-field of "forensic economics" has begun to emerge, uncovering evidence of hidden behavior in a variety of domains. Examples include teachers cheating on exams, road builders skimping on materials, violations of U.N. sanctions, unnecessary heart surgeries, and racial biases in employment decisions, traffic stops, auto retailing, and even sports judging. In each case, part of the contribution of economic analysis is in uncovering evidence of wrongdoing. Although research questions differ, forensic economic work shares commonalities in approaches and limitations. This article seeks to draw out the common threads, with the hope of stimulating further research across fields.
This is particularly nice since it stretches across fields. Some (quasi-arbitrarily) selected highlights:

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