OLET1139 – Economics of the Everyday – Final Essay

You are required to submit an essay of 1,000 words by 28 Oct. The essay should answer the
following question:

You have been asked by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research to prepare a short essay
using economic arguments to explain the effectiveness of incarceration on minor crimes such as
theft. In your essay you should discuss the following issues:

• A brief description of NSW Recorded Crime Statistics on minor offences such as theft
over the last five years.
• How do individuals make decisions from an economic perspective about whether to
commit a crime such as theft? Give and explain a few economic benefits/costs that
influence people's decisions. How would you explain the crime rate which was lower
during the pandemic using Gary Becker’s model?
• What other factors might cause people to commit crimes (such as theft)? How could
you use these factors to reduce crime?
• Using economic principles that have been considered in this unit of study, describe the
benefits and incentives associated with incarceration. Do you think incarceration is an
effective way to reduce the crime rate? In your answer, make sure you give at least 2
reasons why you think incarceration is effective or ineffective.
• What might be the unintended consequences of incarceration for minor crimes such as
theft? List and explain 2 unintended consequences.
• Instead of incarceration, what other policies the government can use to reduce the
crime rate? List and explain 2 different alternative policies.

Guidelines

• The essay should be 1000 words (at most 1100 words).
• The essay should follow the following structure:

Title Page
A title page that includes the title of the essay and student ID. (not included in the
word count)
I. Introduction
A brief description of NSW Recorded Crime Statistics on minor offences such as theft
over the last five years

II. Body (Analysis / Discussion)
Answer the questions set out as above. This section may consist of different
paragraphs, headings, sub-headings.

III. Conclusion (50 words recommended)
References [*This section is not included in the word count*]
This section should list the references used in the paper. Use APA reference and
citation style (7th edition). For more information about the APA reference and
citation style, please refer to the APA 7th referencing guide, which is available on the
Canvas site and on the USyd Library’s APA style site:
https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation/apa7
Below is a simple example of an in-text reference and a reference list
entry, In-text reference is part of the word count.
In-text reference:
[…] In contrast to most other introductory microeconomics textbooks,
Nguyen and Wait (2016) discuss all economic concepts in a very concise
manner. […]
Reference list:
Nguyen, B. & Wait, A. (2016). Essentials of Microeconomics. London, UK:
Taylor & Francis.

• Submission Instructions: Essays must be submitted electronically via the Turnitin
submission inbox on Canvas by 23:59 on 28 Oct.

• Rubric: See the next page.
Grading the Essays
• The essay represents 45% of your final grade for OLET1139.
• Essays will be graded on the basis of the substantive arguments you make, along with the
clarity of your exposition. The discussion that you set out may be enhanced by any research
that you refer to in your paper. We would encourage you to search for other relevant
information about the question. Government reports and other assessments of similar
policies are a good place to look.
• Your discussion should draw on the economic concepts and reasoning that have been
developed in this unit.
• Essays will be graded using the following grading table:
Score
1) Content and Organization
Introduction: brief description/discussion of NSW recorded crime statistics
on minor offences. There is evidence of research. Discussion is clear,
persuasive and cites sources of information that are appropriate.
/10
How do individuals make decisions from an economic perspective about
whether to commit a crime such as theft? Give and explain a few economic
benefits/costs that influence people's decisions. How would you explain the
crime rate which was lower during the pandemic using Gary Becker’s
model?
/15
What other factors might cause people to commit crimes (such as theft)?
How could you use these factors to reduce crime? There is evidence of
research
/10
Using economic principles that have been considered in this unit of study,
describe the benefits and incentives associated with incarceration. Do you
think incarceration is an effective way to reduce the crime rate? Give at
least 2 reasons for your answer why you think incarceration is effective/
ineffective. There is evidence of research
/15
What might be the unintended consequences of incarceration for minor
crimes such as theft? List and explain 2 unintended consequences.
/10
Instead of incarceration, what other policies the government can use to
reduce the crime rate? List and explain 2 different alternative policies.
There is evidence of research
/10
Conclusion /5
2) Grammar and Mechanics
Sentences are well constructed, in terms of style, logical organization,
clarity, and succinctness. There are few grammatical/spelling errors
/5
References are correctly formatted, accurately represent the source
material, and comprehensive
/5

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