This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Racial Beliefs, Location And The Causes Of Crime

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Verdier, Thierry
Zenou, Yves

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show that both location and stereotypical racial beliefs matter for explaining the high criminality rate among blacks in cities. In our model, blacks and whites are identical in all respects. However, if, for not economic but extrinsic reasons, everybody (including blacks) believes that more blacks become criminals than whites, then we show that more blacks (for rational reasons) become criminals than whites, earn lower wages and reside in ghettos located far away from legal activities. There is a vicious circle in which blacks cannot escape because both location and labour market outcomes reinforce each other to imply high crime rates among blacks living in cities. This is referred to as the discriminating equilibrium. If there are no such beliefs in the economy, then another equilibrium emerges in which blacks and whites experience the same labour market and crime outcomes and live together. This is referred to as the non-discriminating equilibrium. The key feature of this belief-based model is that multiple equilibria are sustainable only because of space. Indeed, since location is endogeneous, workers who are believed to be criminals have less incentives to locate close to jobs. Since workers that are located further away from jobs have a lower net wage, their risk of capture is lower and hence the incidence of crime is greater. Consequently, if there were no spatial dimension in this economy so that all workers were residing in the same location, multiple equilibria would not emerge and the only sustainable equilibrium would be the non-discriminating one, even if all agents believe that more blacks are criminals than whites. In other words, beliefs alone cannot generate the discriminating equilibrium; it is the presence of both 'negative' beliefs and 'bad' locations that allow the discriminating equilibrium to exist. It is thus our contention that location and beliefs play a major role in explaining the high criminality rate among blacks.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP2455.asp
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 2455.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: May 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2455

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 53--56 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DG
Phone: 44 - 20 - 7183 8801
Fax: 44 - 20 - 7183 8820

Order Information:
Email:

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords: Crime; Self-Fulfilling Prejudices; Urban Black Ghettos;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities and Races; Non-labor Discrimination
K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
R14 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Andrea Moro & Peter Norman, . "Affirmative Action in a Competitive Economy," Penn CARESS Working Papers ca48ba70927f48a4e11034658, Penn Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Edward L. Glaeser & Matthew E. Kahn & Jordan Rappaport, 2000. "Why Do the Poor Live in Cities?," NBER Working Papers 7636, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Coate, Stephen & Loury, Glenn C, 1993. "Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1220-40, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. George J. Mailath & Larry Samuelson & Avner Shaked, 2000. "Endogenous Inequality in Integrated Labor Markets with Two-Sided Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 46-72, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Freeman, Scott & Grogger, Jeffrey & Sonstelie, Jon, 1996. "The Spatial Concentration of Crime," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 216-231, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Verdier, T. & Zenou, Y., 2000. "Racial Beliefs , Location and the Causes of Crime," DELTA Working Papers 2000-26, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure).
    Other versions:
  7. Farmer, Amy & Terrell, Dek, 1996. "Discrimination, Bayesian Updating of Employer Beliefs and Human Capital Accumulation," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 204-19, April.
  8. Kenneth Burdett & Ricardo Lagos & Randall Wright, 2003. "Crime, Inequality, and Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1764-1777, December. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Acemoglu, Daron, 1995. "Public Policy in a Model of Long-Term Unemployment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 62(246), pages 161-78, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Glaeser, Edward L & Sacerdote, Bruce & Scheinkman, Jose A, 1996. "Crime and Social Interactions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 111(2), pages 507-48, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Piketty, Thomas, 1998. "Self-fulfilling beliefs about social status," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 115-132, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Richard B. Freeman, 1994. "Crime and the Job Market," NBER Working Papers 4910, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Yves Zenou, 2003. "The Spatial Aspects of Crime," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(2-3), pages 459-467, 04/05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Freeman, Richard B., 1999. "The economics of crime," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 52, pages 3529-3571 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Glaeser, Edward L, 1998. "Are Cities Dying?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 139-60, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Grogger, Jeff, 1998. "Market Wages and Youth Crime," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(4), pages 756-91, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. Richard B. Freeman, 1991. "Crime and the Employment of Disadvantaged Youths," NBER Working Papers 3875, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Anne C. Case & Lawrence F. Katz, 1991. "The Company You Keep: The Effects of Family and Neighborhood on Disad- vantaged Youths," NBER Working Papers 3705, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Dickens, William T, et al, 1989. "Employee Crime and the Monitoring Puzzle," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(3), pages 331-47, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Cutler, David M & Glaeser, Edward L, 1997. "Are Ghettos Good or Bad?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(3), pages 827-72, August.
    Other versions:
  21. Rasmusen, Eric, 1996. "Stigma and Self-Fulfilling Expectations of Criminality," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 519-43, October.
    Other versions:
  22. Deutsch, Joseph & Hakim, Simon & Weinblatt, J., 1987. "A micro model of the criminal's location choice," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 198-208, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Ihlanfeldt, Keith, 2002. "Spatial mismatch in the labor market and racial differences in neighborhood crime," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 73-76, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Jeff Grogger & Michael Willis, 2000. "The Emergence Of Crack Cocaine And The Rise In Urban Crime Rates," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(4), pages 519-529, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. repec:att:wimass:192014 is not listed on IDEAS
  26. Sah, Raaj K, 1991. "Social Osmosis and Patterns of Crime," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1272-95, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Coralio Ballester & Antoni Calvó-Armengol & Yves Zenou, 2009. "Delinquent Networks," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0912, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Calvó-Armengol, Antoni & Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "Strong and Weak Ties in Employment and Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 5448, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Paolo Buonanno, 2003. "The Socioeconomic Determinants of Crime. A Review of the Literature," Working Papers 63, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2003. [Downloadable!]
  4. Bunzel, H & Marcoul, P., 2003. "Can racially unbiased police perpetuate long-run discrimination?," Discussion Paper 16, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2007. "Ethnicity and Spatial Externalities in Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 6130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2001. "Social Interactions, Ethnic Minorities and Urban Unemployment," Annales d'Economie et de Statistique, ADRES, issue 63-64, pages 11, Juillet-D. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Supriya Sarnikar & Todd Sorensen & Ronald L. Oaxaca, 2007. "Do You Receive a Lighter Prison Sentence Because You Are a Woman? An Economic Analysis of Federal Criminal Sentencing Guidelines," IZA Discussion Papers 2870, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  8. Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Racial Beliefs, Location and the Causes of Crime," Working Paper Series 602, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Zenou, Yves, 2003. "The Spatial Aspects of Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 4028, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Bunzel, Helle & Marcoul, Philippe, 2005. "On the Use of Racial Profiling as a Law Enforcement Tool," Staff General Research Papers 12397, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  11. Zenou, Yves, 2005. "Crime, Location and the Housing Market," Working Paper Series 651, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Calvó-Armengol, Antoni & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Social Networks and Crime Decisions: The Role of Social Structure in Facilitating Delinquent Behaviour," CEPR Discussion Papers 3966, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Ballester, Coralio & Calvó-Armengol, Antoni & Zenou, Yves, 2004. "Who's Who in Crime Network. Wanted the Key Player," Working Paper Series 617, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Nicolas Marceau & Steeve Mongrain, 2007. "Competition in Law Enforcement and Capital Allocation," Discussion Papers dp07-03, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Paolo Buonanno, 2003. "Crime, Education and Peer Pressure," Working Papers 64, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2003. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? A few items listed on IDEAS are over 2000 years old!

This page was last updated on 2009-10-29.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.