Here's a link to a NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/12/national/12MURD.html?ex=1030256121&ei=1&en=4ca972cf978300ff
It refers to a study by Anthony R. Harris, published in the journal Homicide Studies. He studies hospital admissions of assault victims, and finds that substantial advances in trauma care have reduced mortality among assault victims. That is, given an assault, the victim who would have died in 1960 (becoming a murder statistic) survives the assault in the 1990s. Thus, some of the declining murder rate since the 1960s may be attributable to better health care, not lessened murderous behavior. Has anyone seen the study? If so, does the finding appear genuine? As the news article sums up, "[T]he study could raise questions about how crime statistics are analyzed, and that researchers should consider whether medical care has improved when assessing local changes in crime rates." Interesting stuff for the econ of crime folks. Noel Dr. Noel D. Campbell Asst. Prof. of Business Administration North Georgia College & St. Univ. Dahlonega, GA 30597 (706)864-1621
