Gary Becker was a Nobel laureate who utilized cost and benefit analysis to give an understanding about regular choices. Becker (1968) presented a model based on costs and benefits. His approach was formed from the usual analysis of the expected utility; that people will commit crime or offence if they assume that their utility will be greater than if they utilized their time and assets in some other activity. He built the first model of criminal choice, underlining that “some individuals become criminals because of the financial and other rewards from crime compared to legal work, taking account of the likelihood of apprehension and conviction, and the severity of punishment” Becker (1968). Describing why he looked at crime, Dr. Becker said he began thinking about crime in the 1960s, after driving to Columbia University for an oral examination of a student in economic theory. As he was late reaching the university he needed to settle on a quick choice whether to park the car in the parking lot or risk getting a ticket for parking illegally on the street. He then calculated the probability of getting a ticket, the span of the punishment and the expense of parking the car properly. He chose to take the risk and parked the car on the street. Afterwards he didn't get a ticket for it though. According to Dr. Becker there is one common denominator in all criminal activities. He believed contemplating criminal behavior is a cost and benefit exercise that involves the probablity and level of punishment and whether the utility of the time spent breaking the law exceeds the utiliy of the next best alternative
