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Shorting the Bagel Man: How to Measure and Predict White-Collar Crime

Posted by TimSlavin at June 7, 2004

"He had also -- quite without meaning to -- designed a beautiful economic experiment. By measuring the money collected against the bagels taken, he could tell, down to the penny, just how honest his customers were. Did they steal from him? If so, what were the characteristics of a company that stole versus a company that did not? Under what circumstances did people tend to steal more, or less?

As it happens, his accidental study provides a window onto a subject that has long stymied academics: white-collar crime. (Yes, shorting the bagel man is white-collar crime, writ however small.) Despite all the attention paid to companies like Enron, academics know very little about the practicalities of white-collar crime. The reason? There aren't enough data."

An amazing article about data generated from a twenty something year old business that relies on the honor system to generate revenue. Towards the middle and end of this piece, there's lots of useful data about the predictors of business theft and whether or not people are mostly honest. It's a terrific thought piece for assessing your own business. From the NYTimes.com (free registration required; free content available only a short while).

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