IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ajecsc/v53y1994i1p99-109.html

Crime and Unemployment Among Youths in the United States, 1958‐1990

Author

Listed:
  • Chester L. Britt

Abstract

. Unemployment and arrest time series data for persons aged 16 to 19 years in the United States from 1958 to 1990 show crime among youth to be associated with both the current level of youth unemployment and the annual change in the rate of youth unemployment. For violent offenses (homicide, rape and aggravated assault), as well as for property offenses (robbery, burglary and larceny), higher rates of youth unemployment are negatively associated with annual changes in the arrest rates of youth. Conversely, the lagged effect of youth unemployment is limited to property offenses, where annual changes in youth unemployment are positively related to annual changes in the arrest rates of youth for robbery, burglary and larceny, but negatively related to changes in the auto theft arrest rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Chester L. Britt, 1994. "Crime and Unemployment Among Youths in the United States, 1958‐1990," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 99-109, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:53:y:1994:i:1:p:99-109
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1994.tb02680.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1994.tb02680.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1994.tb02680.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Belton M. Fleisher, 1963. "The Effect of Unemployment on Juvenile Delinquency," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(6), pages 543-543.
    2. Lawrence Cohen & Marcus Felson, 1979. "On estimating the social costs of national economic policy: A critical examination of the Brenner study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 251-259, April.
    3. Ehrlich, Isaac, 1973. "Participation in Illegitimate Activities: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 521-565, May-June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abdul Saboor & Shumaila Sadiq & Atta Ullah Khan & Gulnaz Hameed, 2017. "Dynamic Reflections of Crimes, Quasi Democracy and Misery Index in Pakistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 31-45, August.
    2. Lauridsen, Jørgen T. & Zeren, Fatma & Ari, Ay?E, 2015. "Is Crime in Turkey Economically Rational?/¿Es económicamente racional el crimen en Turquía?," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 33, pages 37-52, Enero.
    3. Fishman, Gideon & Schwartz, Ira & Hsieh, Chang-ming, 1997. "Commitment of Juveniles to Training Schools," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 633-650, December.
    4. Giuliano Bianchi & Yong Chen, 2022. "Testing effects of hospitality employment on property crime in the United States," Tourism Economics, , vol. 28(6), pages 1545-1565, September.
    5. Santiago, Catherine DeCarlo & Wadsworth, Martha E. & Stump, Jessica, 2011. "Socioeconomic status, neighborhood disadvantage, and poverty-related stress: Prospective effects on psychological syndromes among diverse low-income families," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 218-230, March.
    6. William J. Baumol & Edward N. Wolff, "undated". "Side Effects of Progress, How Technological Change Increases the Duration of Unemployment," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_41, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Nouman Khaliq & Muhammad Shabbir & Zahira Batool, 2019. "Exploring the Influence of Unemployment on Criminal Behavior in Punjab, Pakistan," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(1), pages 402-409, March.
    8. Nikolaos Dritsakis & Alexandros Gkanas, 2009. "The effect of socio-economic determinants on crime rates: An empirical research in the case of Greece with cointegration analysis," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 2(2), pages 51-64, December.
    9. Plum Alexander, 2016. "Can Low-Wage Employment Help People Escape from the No-Pay – Low-Income Trap?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-28, October.
    10. Taryn Ann Galloway & Stephen Pudney, 2011. "Initiation into crime: An analysis of Norwegian register data on five birth cohorts," Discussion Papers 655, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    11. Mishra, Sandeep & Lalumière, Martin, 2009. "Is the crime drop of the 1990s in Canada and the USA associated with a general decline in risky and health-related behavior?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 39-48, January.
    12. Chester L. Britt, 2001. "Testing Theory and the Analysis of Time Series Data," Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 343-357, December.
    13. Ferda Halicioglu, 2012. "Temporal causality and the dynamics of crime in Turkey," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(9), pages 704-720, July.
    14. Sediq Sameem & Kevin Sylwester, 2016. "Unemployment and Homicides: Evidence from Individual Level U.S. Data," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1295-1305.
    15. David F. Greenberg, 2001. "Time Series Analysis of Crime Rates," Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 291-327, December.
    16. Mohamad Kassem & Amjad Ali & Marc Audi, 2019. "Unemployment Rate, Population Density and Crime Rate in Punjab (Pakistan): An Empirical Analysis," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(2), pages 92-104, June.
    17. Kent Bausman & W. Richard Goe, 2004. "An Examination of the Link Between Employment Volatility and the Spatial Distribution of Property Crime Rates," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 665-696, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tadashi Yamada, 1985. "The Crime Rate and the Condition of the Labor Market: A Vector Autoregressive Model," NBER Working Papers 1782, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Deller, Steven C. & Deller, Melissa, 2005. "Shifting Patterns in Wisconsin Crime Rates," Staff Papers 12627, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    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.
    4. David B. Mustard, 2010. "Labor Markets and Crime: New Evidence on an Old Puzzle," Chapters, in: Bruce L. Benson & Paul R. Zimmerman (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Crime, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Ya‐Hwei Yang, 1997. "Economic crime and business cycles in Taiwan," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 388-405.
    6. Justus, Marcelo & Conti, Thomas Victor, 2017. "An economic approach on imprisonment of second-instance convicts: the case of Brazil," MPRA Paper 81639, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Abdul Saboor & Shumaila Sadiq & Atta Ullah Khan & Gulnaz Hameed, 2017. "Dynamic Reflections of Crimes, Quasi Democracy and Misery Index in Pakistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 31-45, August.
    8. Mustard, David B., 2010. "How Do Labor Markets Affect Crime? New Evidence on an Old Puzzle," IZA Discussion Papers 4856, IZA Network @ LISER.
    9. Steven C. Deller & Melissa A. Deller, 2010. "Rural Crime and Social Capital," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 221-275, June.
    10. Dutta, Mousumi & Husain, Zakir, 2009. "Determinants of crime rates: Crime Deterrence and Growth in post-liberalized India," MPRA Paper 14478, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Awais Anwar & Noman Arshed & Sofia Anwar, 2017. "Socio-economic Determinants of Crime: An Empirical Study of Pakistan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(1), pages 312-322.
    12. Natalia Sypion & Tomasz Michalski & Michael Leitner New title: Influences of Social and Spatial Factors on Crime Patterns in Szczecin & Poland, 2024. "Social and Spatial Determinants of the Spatial Structure of Crime in Szczecin, Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 302-320.
    13. Khalil, Umair, 2017. "Do more guns lead to more crime? Understanding the role of illegal firearms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 342-361.
    14. van Ours, Jan C. & Williams, Jenny & Ward, Shannon, 2015. "Bad Behavior: Delinquency, Arrest and Early School Leaving," CEPR Discussion Papers 10755, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    15. M. Martin Boyer, 2007. "Resistance (to Fraud) Is Futile," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 74(2), pages 461-492, June.
    16. Imrohoroglu, Ayse & Merlo, Antonio & Rupert, Peter, 2000. "On the Political Economy of Income Redistribution and Crime," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 41(1), pages 1-25, February.
    17. Jack Hirshleifer & Eric Rasmusen, 1992. "Are Equilibrium Strategies Unaffected by Incentives?," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 4(3), pages 353-367, July.
    18. Takuma Kunieda & Masashi Takahashi, 2022. "Inequality and institutional quality in a growth model," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 189-213, April.
    19. Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Inequality, Too Much of a Good Thing," Working Papers 845, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    20. repec:osf:osfxxx:s8ayp_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Galiani, Sebastian & Jaitman, Laura & Weinschelbaum, Federico, 2020. "Crime and durable goods," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 146-163.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:53:y:1994:i:1:p:99-109. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0002-9246 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.