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The changing relationship between income and crime victimization

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  • Steven D. Levitt

Abstract

This paper was presented at the conference \\"Unequal incomes, unequal outcomes? Economic inequality and measures of well-being\\" as part of session 3, \\" Education and crime in urban neighborhoods.\\" The conference was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on May 7, 1999. The author examines the changes in the relationship between income and crime victimization over time. He argues that the poor suffer disproportionately more from property crime today than they did twenty years ago, possibly because of the increased reliance on theft-prevention devices by higher income groups. The author also indicates that, in stark contrast to property come, homicide appears to have become more dispersed across income groups, at least based on neighborhood-level data for Chicago. For whites, neighborhood median family income is no longer a predictor of homicide victimization rates - a factor that may explain the increase in the fear of crime across income levels when the crime rate has actually fallen sharply. For blacks, the link between income and crime victimization is found to be only one-third as strong as it was in 1970.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven D. Levitt, 1999. "The changing relationship between income and crime victimization," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 5(Sep), pages 87-98.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednep:y:1999:i:sep:p:87-98:n:v.5no.3
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    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Soares, Rodrigo R., 2004. "Development, crime and punishment: accounting for the international differences in crime rates," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 155-184, February.
    3. Julie Berry Cullen & Steven D. Levitt, 1999. "Crime, Urban Flight, And The Consequences For Cities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 159-169, May.
    4. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote & José A. Scheinkman, 1996. "Crime and Social Interactions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(2), pages 507-548.
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    Keywords

    Crime; Income;

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