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Crime and local inequality in South Africa

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Author Info
Demombynes, Gabriel
Ozler, Berk

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Abstract

The authors examine the effects of local inequality on property and violent crime in South Africa. Their findings are consistent with economic theories relating inequality to property crime, and also with sociological theories that imply that inequality leads to crime in general. Burglary rates are 20-30 percent higher in police station jurisdictions that are the wealthiest among their neighbors, suggesting that criminals travel to neighborhoods where the expected returns from burglary are highest. The authors do not find evidence that inequality between racial groups fosters interpersonal conflict at the local level.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 2925.

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Date of creation: 30 Nov 2002
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2925

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Related research
Keywords: Corruption&Anitcorruption Law; Public Health Promotion; Education and Society; Judicial System Reform; Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Governance Indicators; Judicial System Reform; Corruption&Anitcorruption Law; Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Social Conflict and Violence;

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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. Anthony B. Atkinson & Andrea Brandolini, 2000. "Promise and Pitfalls in the Use of 'Secondary' Data-Sets: Income Inequality in OECD Countries," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 379, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Demombynes, Gabriel & Elbers, Chris & Lanjouw, Jenny & Lanjouw, Peter & Mistiaen, Johan & Ozler, Berk, 2002. "Producing an Improved Geographic Profile of Poverty: Methodology and Evidence from Three Developing Countries," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  3. Gary S. Becker, 1968. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76, pages 169. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Chris Elbers & Jean O. Lanjouw & Peter Lanjouw, 2003. "Micro--Level Estimation of Poverty and Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(1), pages 355-364, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. 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:
  6. Morgan Kelly, 2000. "Inequality And Crime," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(4), pages 530-539, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Pradhan, Menno & Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "Who wants safer streets? Explaining concern for public safety in Brazil," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 17-33, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 565-91, September.
  9. Chiu, W. Henry & Madden, Paul, 1998. "Burglary and income inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 123-141, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Fajnzylber, Pablo & Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman, 2002. "Inequality and Violent Crime," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(1), pages 1-40, April.
  11. Steve Machin & Costas Meghir, 2000. "Crime and economic incentives," IFS Working Papers W00/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman & Menendez, Ana Maria, 2002. "Violent Crime: Does Social Capital Matter?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(3), pages 509-39, April.
  13. Ehrlich, Isaac, 1973. "Participation in Illegitimate Activities: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 521-65, May-June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Fajnzylber, Pablo & Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman, 2002. "What causes violent crime?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1323-1357, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote, 1999. "Why Is There More Crime in Cities?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages S225-S258, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Behrman, Jere R & Craig, Steven G, 1987. "The Distribution of Public Services: An Exploration of Local Governmental Preferences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 37-49, March. [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. Dahlberg, Matz & Gustavsson, Magnus, 2005. "Inequality and crime: separating the effects of permanent and transitory income," Working Paper Series 2005:19, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Thiess Buettner & Hannes Spengler, 2003. "Local Determinants of Crime: Distinguishing between Resident and Non-resident Offenders," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 120, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre (Department of Economics), Technische Universität Darmstadt (Darmstadt University of Technology). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Claudio Agostini & Phillip Brown, 2007. "Desigualdad geográfica en Chile," Revista de Analisis Economico – Economic Analysis Review, Ilades-Georgetown University, Economics Department, vol. 22(1), pages 3-33, June. [Downloadable!]
  4. Phillippe G. Leite & Terry McKinley & Rafael Guerreiro Osório, 2006. "The Post-Apartheid Evolution of Earnings Inequality in South Africa, 1995-2004," Working Papers 32, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth. [Downloadable!]
  5. Claudio Agostini & Phillip Brown, 2007. "Cash Transfers and Poverty Reduction in Chile," ILADES-Georgetown University Working Papers inv187, Ilades-Georgetown University, School of Economics and Bussines. [Downloadable!]
  6. João Manoel Pinho de Mello & Eduardo Zilberman, 2006. "Does crime affect economic decisions? An empirical investigation of savings in a high-crime environment," Textos para discussão 524, Department of Economics PUC-Rio (Brazil), revised Oct 2008. [Downloadable!]
  7. Arthur MacEwan, . "Why Equality? How Equality?," Working Papers 1, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
  8. John Gibson & Bonggeun Kim, 2006. "Measurement Error and the Effect of Inequality on Experienced versus Reported Crime," Working Papers in Economics 06/05, University of Waikato, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Claudio Agostini & Phillip Brown, 2007. "Spatial Inequality in Chile," ILADES-Georgetown University Working Papers inv178, Ilades-Georgetown University, School of Economics and Bussines. [Downloadable!]
  10. Nilsson, Anna, 2004. "Income inequality and crime: The case of Sweden," Working Paper Series 2004:6, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
  11. Fafchamps, Marcel & Minten, Bart, 2006. "Insecurity and Welfare," CEPR Discussion Papers 5999, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Nilsson, Anna, 2004. "Income Inequality and Crime: The Case of Sweden," Research Papers in Economics 2004:3, Stockholm University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Mikkel Barslund & John Rand & Finn Tarp & Jacinto Chiconela, 2005. "Understanding Victimization: The Case of Mozambique," Discussion Papers 05-17, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Barron, Patrick & Kaiser, Kai & Pradhan, Menno, 2004. "Local conflict in Indonesia : Measuring incidence and identifying patterns," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3384, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  15. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur, 2005. "Poverty and Well-being in Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Overview of Data, Outcomes and Policy," Working Papers 9620, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit. [Downloadable!]
  16. Claudio Agostini & Phillip Brown & Andrei Roman, 2008. "Poverty Estimating Poverty for Indigenous Groups by Matching Census and Survey Data," ILADES-Georgetown University Working Papers inv207, Ilades-Georgetown University, School of Economics and Bussines. [Downloadable!]
  17. Stone, Christopher, 2006. "Crime, Justice, and Growth in South Africa: Toward a Plausible Contribution from Criminal Justice to Economic Growth," Working Paper Series rwp06-038, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-25.


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