Skip to main content

Robert Witt.

Robert Witt

Associate

Expertise: economics of crime, economics of sport, labour economics

Telephone:
01483 686954
Email:
r.witt@lse.ac.uk
r.witt@surrey.ac.uk
Room:
SAL 2.11 F
Connect:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Links:
CEP Community Wellbeing
University of Surrey School of Economics

Biography

Professor Robert Witt is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey and an Associate of the Centre for Economic Performance. Previously served as a consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Home Office and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy. Previous academic positions held at University of St. Andrews (1989-92), City of London Polytechnic (1982-89), Portsmouth Polytechnic (1981-82), North London Polytechnic (1980-81). From 1975 to 1978 he worked as an economic analyst in the City.

Current areas of research include:

  • Economics of sport: ethnic discrimination in FPL; Regression to the mean post Pep.
  • Economics of crime: the impact of crew size on police productivity; Prices and returns to crime.

Publications

Journal article
Prices, Policing and Policy: The Dynamics of Crime Booms and Busts

In many historical episodes, the extent of criminal activity has displayed booms and busts. One very clear example is the case of metal crime, where in the face of big increases in value driven by world commodity prices,... Read more...

Tom Kirchmaier, Stephen Machin, Matteo Sandi and Robert Witt

01 April 2020

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Metal crime: the impact of prices, policing and policy

Metal prices are strong drivers of metal crime, according to research by Tom Kirchmaier and colleagues. Their study traces how, over the past ten years, big rises in commodity prices led to a boom in metal crime in the U... Read more...

Tom Kirchmaier, Stephen Machin, Matteo Sandi and Robert Witt

29 June 2018

CEP discussion papers
Prices, policing and policy: the dynamics of crime booms and busts

In many historical episodes, the extent of criminal activity has displayed booms and busts. One very clear example is the case of metal crime, where in the face of big increases in value driven by world commodity prices,... Read more...

Tom Kirchmaier, Stephen Machin, Matteo Sandi and Robert Witt

22 March 2018

Journal article
Panic on the streets of London: police, crime, and the July 2005 terror attacks

In this paper we study the causal impact of police on crime, looking at what happened to crime and police before and after the terror attacks that hit central London in July 2005. The attacks resulted in a large redeploy... Read more...

Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin and Robert Witt

01 August 2011

CEP discussion papers
Panic on the Streets of London: Police, Crime and the July 2005 Terror Attacks

In this paper we study the causal impact of police on crime by looking at what happened to crime before and after the terror attacks that hit central London in July 2005. The attacks resulted in a large redeployment of p... Read more...

Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin and Robert Witt

01 February 2008

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Panic on the streets of London

The terrorist attacks of 7 July 2005 resulted in a very large redeployment of police officers to central London boroughs. New research by Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin and Robert Witt looks at the impact of this increased ... Read more...

Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin and Robert Witt

24 October 2006

spacer