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Why Is There More Crime in Cities?

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Author Info
Edward L. Glaeser
Bruce Sacerdote

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Abstract

Crime rates are much higher in big cities than in either small cities or rural areas, and this situation has been relatively pervasive for several centuries. This paper attempts to explain this connection by using victimization data, evidence from the NLSY on criminal behavior and the Uniform Crime Reports. Higher pecuniary benefits for crime in large cities can explain approximately 27% of the effect for overall crime, though obviously much less of the urban- crime connection for non-pecuniary crimes such as rape or assault. Lower arrest probabilities, and lower probability of recognition, are a feature of urban life, but these factors seem to explain at most 20% of the urban crime effect. The remaining 45-60% of the effect can be related to observable characteristics of individuals and cities. The characteristics that seem most important are those that reflect tastes, social influences and family structure. Ultimately, we can say that the urban crime premium is associated with these characteristics, but we are left trying to explain why these characteristics are connected with urban living.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 5430.

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Date of creation: Jan 1996
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5430

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
R10 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Grogger, Jeffrey, 1995. "The Effect of Arrests on the Employment and Earnings of Young Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(1), pages 51-71, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote & Jose A. Scheinkman, 1995. "Crime and Social Interactions," NBER Working Papers 5026, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Gary S. Becker & Casey B. Mulligan, 1994. "On the Endogenous Determination of Time Preference," University of Chicago - George G. Stigler Center for Study of Economy and State 98, Chicago - Center for Study of Economy and State.
    Other versions:
  4. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1993. "Why Is Rent-Seeking So Costly to Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(2), pages 409-14, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Ehrlich, Isaac & Becker, Gary S, 1972. "Market Insurance, Self-Insurance, and Self-Protection," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(4), pages 623-48, July-Aug.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Levitt, Steven D, 1998. "Why Do Increased Arrest Rates Appear to Reduce Crime: Deterrence, Incapacitation, or Measurement Error?," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 353-72, July.
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  7. Richard B. Freeman, 1991. "Crime and the Employment of Disadvantaged Youths," NBER Working Papers 3875, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. 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)
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  9. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(2), pages 503-30, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Ehrlich, Isaac, 1975. "The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(3), pages 397-417, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Bruce Weinberg & Eric Gould & David Mustard, 1998. "Crime Rates and Local Labor Market Opportunities in the United States: 1979-1995," Working Papers 98-11, Ohio State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Giovanni Peri, . "Human Capital and Productivity in US Cities," Working Papers 138, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. [Downloadable!]
  3. Julie Berry Cullen & Steven D. Levitt, 1996. "Crime, Urban Flight, and the Consequences for Cities," NBER Working Papers 5737, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Alejandro Gaviria & Carmen Pagés-Serra, 1999. "Patterns of Crime Victimization in Latin America," RES Working Papers 4186, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  5. Ayse Imrohoroglu & Antonio Merlo & Peter Rupert, 1996. "On the political economy of income redistribution and crime," Working Paper 9609, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Arthur Grimes & Suzi Kerr & Andrew Aitken, 2004. "Bi-Directions Impacts of Economic, Social and Environmental Changes and the New Zealand Housing Market," Working Papers 04_09, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Glaeser, Edward L, 1998. "Are Cities Dying?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 139-60, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Muehlheusser, Gerd & Roider, Andreas, 2004. "Black Sheep and Walls of Silence," IZA Discussion Papers 1171, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Gomes, F. A. R. & Paz, L. S., 2007. "The Determinants of Criminal Victimization in São Paulo state-Brazil," Ibmec Working Papers wpe_70, Ibmec Working Paper, Ibmec São Paulo. [Downloadable!]
  10. Entorf, Horst & Spengler, Hannes, 1998. "Socio-economic and demographic factors of crime in Germany : evidence from panel data of the German states," ZEW Discussion Papers 98-16, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Alejandro Gaviria & Carmen Pagés-Serra, 1999. "Patrones de victimización por el hampa en América Latina," RES Working Papers 4187, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  12. Renata Villoro & Graciela Teruel, 2004. "The social costs of crime in Mexico city and suburban areas," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 19(1), pages 3-44. [Downloadable!]
  13. Gabriel Chequer Hartung & Samuel Pessoa, 2007. "Fatores Demográficos Como Determinantes Da Criminalidade," Anais do XXXV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 35th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 112, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pósgraduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics]. [Downloadable!]
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