Journal of Economic Literature Vol. 64 No. 3 2026
Scoring the Behavioral Economics of Crime: Reflections on Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Abstract
In Unforgiving Places Jens Ludwig makes a strong claim for the behavioral economics of crime, scoring it a knockout when pitted against conventional wisdom. Focusing on gun violence, he proposes a unifying explanation that draws on disciplines beyond economics, especially sociology, criminology, and psychology. Although the intended audience is mainly policymakers and the general public, scholars will benefit from reading Ludwig's thought-provoking book. In this essay, I evaluate the book's evidence and elaborate on the research needed to resolve unsettled hypotheses. I focus on several key issues, including linking self-control theory to cognitive processes, informal neighborhood social control, legitimacy in community policing, toxic environmental effects on cognition, the limits of administrative data, age-specific pathways of gun carrying, and the impact of social change. In the spirit of consilience that Unforgiving Places calls for, I argue that further engagement of the book's framework with these issues yields a promising research agenda.
- DOI
- 10.1257/jel.20251826
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1034-1057
- Language
- en
- Sources
- crossref openalex