This monograph explains what economic analysis is, why it is important, and forms it can take in policing and criminal justice. Costs are important in all forms of economic analysis but their collection tends to be partial and inadequate in capturing key information. A practical guide to the collection is therefore also provided.

A key part of the evidence base for practitioners and policymakers includes the costs of interventions and the returns yielded from incurring those costs. However, to date crime reduction work economic analyses have been uncommon and even when undertaken have been partial, technically weak and insufficiently informed by economic theory. This book explains what economic analysis is, why it is important, and forms it can take. Costs are important in all forms of economic analysis although their collection tends to be partial and inadequate in capturing key information. A practical guide to the collection is therefore also provided. The book will be of great interest to students in economics and advanced students in policing and crime reduction as well as to analysts and decision makers in policing and crime reduction.