This thesis comprises three empirical papers. Using various econometric techniques, each paper examines different aspects of human capital. These aspects vary from determinants of human capital to heterogeneity in human capital, and to non-economic benefit of human capital. The objective of this thesis is to obtain a better understanding about issues related human capital and education in developing countries, in particular Indonesia and Vietnam. The results show that more educated neighbourhoods experience less crime. Secondary and higher education play a particularly important role in crime reduction. Effects are more pronounced for crimes reported by males than females. One mechanism seems to be that there are fewer opportunities for engaging in criminal behaviour when one is in school. Extreme poverty appears to weaken the extent to which education reduces crime.

This thesis applies Ekblom and Tilley’s concept of offender resources to the study of criminal behaviour on the Internet. Offender predispositions are influenced by situational, that is the environmental incentives to commit crime. Based on the empirical data, this thesis tests a number of criminological theories and assesses their relative compatibility with social interactions occurring in various online forum sites frequented by persons interested in the formation and use of malicious code. The thesis illustrates three conceptual frameworks of offender resources, based on different criminological theories.

For criminology in Australia, 2012/13 will likely be remembered with cautious concern. It was a period of significant change, bringing with it a number of policy decisions which, together, forewarn of a difficult and challenging period ahead. Above all, as the jurisdiction in which this thesis makes its journey, Queensland will be remembered as the first in Australia to have terminated its multi-agency court-supervised drug treatment program, significantly limiting the sentencing options available to those most in need of alternatives to imprisonment. Looking ahead, the future is set to be equally challenging as the paucity of Australian longitudinal and developmental criminological research stands as a significant obstacle in the search for new and proven alternatives. Against this backdrop, this thesis returns to the Queensland component of the Australian Institute of Criminology's (AIC) Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO) study to consider the policy implications of a path-dependent and age-graded relationship between drug use and crime.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent, international institution established to prosecute individuals who commit genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The treaty establishing the ICC - the Rome Statute - entered into force in 2002 and currently has more than 110 States Parties representing every geopolitical region of the world. One of the key challenges facing the ICC is securing State Cooperation with the Court's investigations and prosecutions, despite the clear obligation on States to provide such cooperation. Most analysis of the ICC State Cooperation regime suggests it is inevitable that the Court will face the same challenges as its predecessors, the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, both of which have struggled to secure State Cooperation with arrest warrants and other measures of enforcement.This dissertation highlights the complex legal, political, and historical dynamics of international criminal law enforcement more broadly, in order to identify the factors most likely to influence the success or failure of the ICC State Cooperation regime in years to come.

This thesis investigates public/private partnerships designed to control criminal activity on the waterfront. Government authorities routinely work together (through interagency partnership), and enlist external stakeholders (through community coproduction) to enhance their crime prevention capabilities. This thesis explores the nature and extent of this engagement on the waterfront, and the manner in which authorities enlist the capital (i.e. physical capital, human capital and social capital) of industry stakeholders as a means of enhancing the provision of security in waterfront communities.