Measuring the Costs of Crime in the 21st Century

High-quality estimates of the cost of crime are central to good policymaking. For 30 years, estimates of crime costs have focused on identifying the burden borne by direct victims, third parties, and governments, conceptualized as impacts on missed work, health-care expenditures, destroyed property, and pain and suffering. I highlight recent efforts to account for these costs and point out that advances in social and computer science create clear pathways for innovation beyond the current established framework. Counterfactual-based analyses with administrative records have identified the importance of accounting for the age distribution of victims. Recent efforts to quantify the consequences of perceived racial inequality and the value of deterrence can refine estimates of the cost of government reaction. Humanity's growing reliance on the Internet for all forms of interaction requires more careful effort by social scientists to identify the societal consequences of different types of cybercrime.