Women are less likely to commit criminal acts than men. This gender gap appears to be particularly pronounced in white-collar crime. This systematic literature review examines existing theories, such as the situational hypothesis and the ‘gendered theory of focal concerns’ and evaluates to what extent they find support in empiricism. The results seem to offer the most support to the ‘gendered theory of focal concerns’. This nourishes the hypothesis that with an increase of women at positions in the upper tiers of the company ladder a decrease in the prevalence of white-collar crime can be expected. However, it is also possible that the explanation of corporate crime does not lie in a lack of femininity, but in a lack of gender diversity. Furthermore, limited access to informal criminal networks, the ‘old boys networks’, seems to play an important role in the gender gap of white-collar crime.

In this introductory article we will discuss some of the recent developments in corporate crime research in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2008. In doing so, we will answer the following three questions: (1) What are the most important developments in the way research on corporate crime has been carried out? (2) What are key themes in corporate crime research? (3) What are the most important blind spots in research into corporate crime? We will conclude with some avenues for future research on corporate crime and its enforcement.

Veel toezichthouders streven naar ‘transparantie’, maar hoe dit in de praktijk vorm moet krijgen, is niet altijd evident. Bestaand onderzoek naar transparantie heeft zich vooral gericht op de effecten van openbaarmaking van toezichtinformatie op gedrag van ondertoezichtgestelden. Dit artikel presenteert een breder analysekader, waarin we onderscheid maken tussen transparantie (openbaar maken), verantwoording (oordeel mogelijk maken) en responsiviteit (reactie en dialoog). We passen dit kader toe op de openbaarheidsstrategie van de Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd en de Inspectie van het Onderwijs ten aanzien van de openbaarmaking van kwaliteitsoordelen over instellingen. Bij beide inspecties zien we een ontwikkeling in de tijd van transparantie naar verantwoording naar responsiviteit. Het analysekader kan ook voor andere toezichthouders behulpzaam zijn bij het maken van afwegingen ten aanzien van het delen van informatie met hun stakeholders.

The current vignette experiment among 414 students in the Netherlands explores the effect of the police response on willingness to cooperate and examines whether this relationship is mediated by perceptions of the legitimacy of the police. This is done based on Tyler’s procedural justice theory and previous research among crime victims. The police response in the vignette was manipulated in two ways: the police offered a fair/unfair treatment and had/had not performed investigative actions. There was no police contact in a control group. The results suggest a positive effect of the police response on willingness to cooperate and imply that this relationship is mediated by perceived trust in the police.

Empirical Legal Studies (ELS) are studies investigating the law in the real world, using empirical methods. Internationally, ELS is on the rise. However, not much is known about what is being done around ELS in the Netherlands. This article describes the results of a systematic review, investigating how many PhD researchers who defended their thesis at a Dutch law faculty in 2015 have collected empirical data, what topic they investigated, which method they used and what background they have. The findings are that 33% of the PhD theses could be labelled as ELS. The majority of ELS were conducted by researchers who have a social science degree. Some of the (only few) lawyers collecting empirical data did not aim to conduct ELS, even though their research questions were very empirical. It is concluded that more empirical education and research funding are needed to stimulate lawyers to conduct more ELS.

On July 1st 2016 a law entered into force that gives the victim or survivors of serious crimes the right to speak unrestrictedly in court. Where the victim or survivors used to be only permitted to make a statement on the consequences of the crime for them, the recent amendment of the law permits them to speak about the evidence, the legal qualification of the crime, the culpability of the offender and the appropriate punishment as well. Discussions on the introduction or extension of the victim’s right to speak mainly focused on the consequences of victim statements on the procedural consequences and on the consequences for the victim. Little attention is paid to the consequences for the offender. This article reports the findings of a systematic literature review on the relation between a victim statement and the imposed punishment. The findings from the American studies show that a victim statement aggravates sentencing outcomes. How desirable is that? For answering that question, more research is needed, which the legislator has not wanted to wait for.