cheating on examsforensic economicshidden behavior detectionracial bias in employmentunnecessary medical procedures
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Abstract (AI)
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. (JEL K13)
Key Findings
1
A new meta-field called 'forensic economics' has emerged to detect hidden or illicit behavior across diverse domains.
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Applications of forensic economics include detecting discrimination in employment, traffic stops, auto retailing, and biased sports judging.
3
Forensic economic research across these cases shares common methodological approaches and common limitations.
4
Forensic economics has uncovered evidence of wrongdoing in areas such as teacher cheating, construction skimping, U.N. sanctions violations, unnecessary heart surgeries, and racial biases.
5
The article synthesizes these common threads to stimulate further interdisciplinary research in forensic economics.
Research Object
Forensic economics as a meta-field studying instances of hidden or illicit behavior across domains
Research Subject
Methods, common approaches and limitations for uncovering evidence of hidden/wrongdoing behaviors (e.g., cheating, skimping, sanction violations, unnecessary procedures, racial bias) using economic analysis
Publication Details
Publication Date
2012-09-01
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