THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC THEORY WITH REGARD TO CRIMINOLOGY IS TRACED THROUGH AMERICAN, ENGLISH, AND CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN RESEARCH, WITH ATTENTION TO THE USE OF THREE APPROACHES TO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: (1) PROJECTION OF GLOBAL COSTS OF CRIME (ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPLETE PICTURE OF CRIME IN ECONOMIC TERMS), (2) ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROGRAMMATIC STRUCTURE OF CONTROL BUILT ON THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL ELEMENT THAT MAKES UP THE GLOBAL PICTURE OF CRIME, AND (3) PROGRESSIVE COST ANALYSIS OF EACH COMPONENT OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO OFFENSE. DISCUSSION OF THESE THREE ASPECTS OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH LEADS TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THESE APPROACHES ARE LEGITIMATE AND USEFUL ONLY IF THEY INCLUDE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL CONTROLS OF CRIMINALITY, PARTICULARLY THE PENAL SYSTEM. TO DO THIS, DEFINITIONS SHOULD BE CLARIFIED OF CRIME AND PENAL JUSTICE. IN ADDITION, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT MORE RIGOROUS AND METHODOLOGY CONCEPTUALIZATION BE APPLIED TO THE CRIMINOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF CRIME AND THAT THE ILLUSION OF OPTIMIZATION OF EFFORTS BE AVOIDED. THE SECOND PART OF THE VOLUME IS DEVOTED TO EXAMPLES OF CURRENT FRENCH RESEARCH EACH USING ONE OR MORE OF THE THREE APPROACHES TO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. EXTENSIVE GRAPHS, CHARTS, TABLES, STATISTICAL DATA, AND FOOTNOTES AMPLIFY THE TEST. NOTES FOR EACH CHAPTER ARE APPENDED, ALONG WITH A SUBJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY, SUBJECT AND AUTHOR INDEXES, AND A LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.--IN FRENCH. (MHP)