Journal of Economic Criminology最新文献

{"title":"Assessing the impact of socioeconomic disparities on criminal behaviors in oil producing communities in Niger Delta Nigeria","authors":"Godwin Egbe","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100119","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100119","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the rise of social inequalities in oil-producing communities in Nigeria's Niger Delta, identifying factors that contribute to socioeconomic disparities. Over the last two decades, these communities have endured environmental degradation, youth violence, militancy, and conflict with transnational oil companies. The study uses relative deprivation and general strain theories to explain variances in the living standards of residents. Primary data gathered through surveys revealed that income and education levels are significant predictors of inequality and criminal behavior. The policy implications underline the importance of effective checks and balances in community development committees, with a focus on grassroots development and accountable administration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime","authors":"Ian Stanier ,&nbsp;Jordan Nunan","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100120","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100120","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Combatting organised crime, requires Agencies to deploy a range of collection capabilities to identify community threats, to accurately select and prioritise organised crime targets and to inform operational decision-making. Central to this effort is the ability to identify, recruit and deploy Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS). It is therefore paradoxical that the United Kingdom’s CHIS authorisations have been in steep decline since the enactment of the bespoke <em>Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act</em> 2000 (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Scotland Act, 2000). This research seeks to critically discuss as to what are the key factors contributing to this decline. Consequently, this review suggests that the decline in CHIS authorisations are to be found in a complex configuration of factors. Two stand out as significant; i) the impact of resource reduction on CHIS operational capacity and capability, and ii) an emergence of a culture of fear and risk aversion as a constraining factor on CHIS recruitment and use.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100120"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bidirectional relationship between corruption and economic performance in Tanzania","authors":"Lucas Salati ,&nbsp;Maurice Mbago ,&nbsp;Dimpna Mosha","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100121","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100121","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corruption has resulted in numerous social, economic, and developmental issues in both developed and developing nations. The study applied Vector Autoregression approach to analyze and model bidirectional relationship between corruption perceptions index and three macroeconomic variables, namely; unemployment, inflation, and Gross Domestic Product growth rate which measure economic performance in Tanzania. The analysis covered the period from 1998 to 2021. The results show that the corruption perception index in Tanzania has been increasing steadily and significantly since 1998 and has a deterministic trend. In contrast, uncertainty and irregularity seem to best describe the distribution and pattern of unemployment, inflation and Gross Domestic Product growth. The statistical insights from impulse response analysis and forecast error variance decomposition show economic performance is closely related to corruption. Therefore, unfavorable economic performance serve as warning signs of corruption and vice versa. The study concludes that the main cause of corruption is the individual's struggle to escape prevailing economic situations, including inflation and unemployment. The result offers new anti-corruption strategies that consist of integrating political and legal reforms and promoting a stable and healthy economy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100121"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trade-based money laundering and domestic resource mobilization in oil-exporting Countries","authors":"Joshua Adeyemi Afolabi ,&nbsp;Musibau Adetunji Babatunde","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100122","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100122","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid evolution of global trade offers great productivity gains to participating countries but also raises the likelihood of losing domestic resources through trade-based money laundering. This paper empirically examined whether trade-based money laundering affects domestic resource mobilization in nine selected Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member states from which panel data spanning 2009–2018 were obtained. The panel quantile regression estimator was used to analyze the data. The empirical result showed that trade-based money laundering reduces government revenue and weakens the ability of the government to mobilize domestic resources to fulfil its fiscal responsibilities. The magnitude of impact exhibits an increasing trend as the adverse effect is more pronounced in countries with high domestic resources and less severe in countries with low domestic resources. Therefore, policymakers and governments of OPEC member states should design and ensure the effective implementation of anti-money laundering policies to tame trade-based money laundering.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100122"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The dark arts of crypto laundering and the nigerian financial ecosystem: Examining regulatory perspectives of virtual assets and virtual asset providers in mitigating money laundering risks in Nigeria","authors":"Oluwabunmi Adaramola","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100117","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100117","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The last five years have seen immense growth in the Nigerian financial services sphere, particularly with the introduction of innovative ways to make, trade and exchange money in a largely unregulated sphere. One of such developments is virtual assets which has opened up a lot of doors in the world of FinTech and attracted the attention of financial industry regulators. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other financial regulatory agencies seem to however waiver in their governance systems of virtual assets, oscillating between an implied soft ban through various circulars in 2021 on one hand and a desire to critically understand the operations of virtual assets within the ambit of the Securities and Exchange Commission rules in 2022. However, within this timeframe, various cryptocurrency trading platforms quickly found ways to illegally circumvent and allow users to continue trading, regardless of the implied ban, taking advantage of financial agencies' lackadaisical approach to regulating their activities. Current research therefore suggests that there is a continued operation of such exchange platforms outside regulatory boundaries where in May 2023, Patricia, a popular Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange platform, launched its own digital tokens. In response, the CBN released a guideline in December 2023 on the operations of bank accounts for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), a first step towards regulating virtual assets in Nigeria. This paper therefore aims to critically assess the anatomy and footprint of cryptolaundering, particularly in Nigeria’s banking and finance sector, as well as current and future attempts at regulating the potential money laundering risks of virtual assets. Particularly, this paper aims to examine the potency of current regulatory perspectives and Nigeria’s emerging governance system for virtual assets and VASPs side by side with its current economic and social realities and the overall regulatory nature of Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100117"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The fatal flaw of glocal ‘solutions’ to Illicit Financial Flows","authors":"Sanaa Ahmed","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100116","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100116","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rise in the volume of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) across the world is triggering calls from the Global South to mitigate the deleterious consequences of both IFFs and tax abuse on their economies. Using a Third World Approaches to International Law lens, this article analyses the politics of the current anti-money laundering counter-terrorism financing (AML-CTF) regime and its effects on the mitigation strategies currently in play. These include beneficial ownership registries, civil asset forfeiture regimes (including Unexplained Wealth Orders) and repatriation strategies. The paper argues that the problematic institutional politics of the global regulator Financial Action Task Force have a determinative effect on the purported ‘solutions’ to the problem of IFFs and, as such, can only <em>perpetuate</em> the tragedy of the broken AML system, not reform it nor deliver the putatively desired outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modelling the modus operandi of online romance fraud: Perspectives of online romance fraudsters","authors":"Yushawu Abubakari","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100112","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100112","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The strategies that online romance fraudsters employ may vary across different socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and observations of online romance fraudsters in Ghana, this paper develops a model that explains how African online romance fraudsters deceive Western victims. While much of the model aligns with previous studies based on insights from experts, victims, and secondary data, it uncovers significant aspects of offenders' strategies that earlier research overlooked. These findings suggest that African offenders adopt a distinct approach, shaped by regional sociocultural factors, to execute their fraud schemes. The study identifies seven interconnected and systematic stages that African online romance fraudsters use to defraud Western victims: creating fake profiles, conducting reconnaissance, building trust, scamming, reinventing the truth, turning victims into partners, and abandonment. The findings also show how both cultural and personal vulnerabilities become targets for exploitation. This research offers valuable insights for law enforcement agencies, victim support organizations, and other stakeholders to develop effective policies that mitigate romance fraud and reduce its far-reaching impact on victims. The study also encourages further research to expand the understanding of this phenomenon.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100112"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142705768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Why only scrutinise formal finance? Money laundering and informal remittance regulations in Indonesia","authors":"Kartini Laras Makmur","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100111","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100111","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Indonesia has been actively developing anti-money laundering (AML) strategies for the past two decades, but a critical gap remains in the informal financial sector that has not received greater regulatory attention. Remarkably, this sector contributes to over half of Indonesia’s GDP, with remittances alone accounting for almost one per cent of the GDP. Despite its significance, the role of informal finance in controlling money laundering is still underdeveloped. Informal financial services, especially informal remittance services widely used by Indonesian migrant workers, are often exploited by money launderers due to a lack of stringent compliance measures. This paper draws on available literature and open source reporting to delve into Indonesia’s current AML strategies, highlighting their strengths and pinpointing critical deficiencies. It pays particular attention to informal remittance services, advocating for their inclusion in AML frameworks. The findings underscore the urgency of enhancing AML efforts within the informal finance sector. To effectively counter evolving money laundering threats, the Indonesian government must adapt its AML strategies to encompass both formal and informal finance sectors. This approach will not only ensure comprehensive compliance, but also fortify the nation’s overall financial integrity. By integrating the informal financial sector into the broader AML strategy, and fostering collaboration with various policy stakeholders, Indonesia can bolster its defences against money laundering. Moreover, these insights offer valuable lessons for other countries in the Global South facing similar challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142660735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Secret sharing in online communities: A comparative analysis of offender and non-offender password creation strategies","authors":"Andréanne Bergeron ,&nbsp;Thomas E. Dearden","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100110","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100110","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Even though several authentication methods exist, passwords remain the most common type of authentication. Researchers have demonstrated the influence of a person’s environment and exposure to the Internet on their online security behavior (Bosnjak &amp; Brumen, 2016; He et al., 2021; Juozapavičius et al., 2022). Those studies suggest that social identity seems to play a role in password choice. The objective of this study was to determine if the criminal nature of a network influences password-creation strategies. To achieve this, we utilized two databases with a substantial number of actual passwords (1485,095) that had been leaked to the Internet. One database was sourced from a non-delinquent social network, while the other was from a hacker forum. We employed logistic regression to reveal the characteristics associated with each group, ensuring a comprehensive analysis of different types of password strategies and the similarity between actors of the same network. Results show that users of the same network have passwords with characteristics that are similar to each other. Individuals with the same social interests seem more likely to use the same password-creation strategies. From a network analysis perspective, the results show that similar individuals (sharing the same interests) are similar in other aspects (password creation strategies). These findings offer valuable insights into the diverse landscape of password varieties and user behaviors, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of internet user networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142660731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Introduction to special issue on corporate crime and society: Impact, harm and enforcement","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100109","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100109","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142560669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}