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Do inequalities predict fear of crime? Empirical evidence from Mexico

Author

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  • Matthieu Clement

    (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Lucie Piaser

    (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Deeply rooted in the social disorganization theory, this article aims at studying the causal impact of local inequality, a main community structural factor, on individuals' fear of crime. Combining multiple datasets and focusing on the Mexican case, this study has several goals. First, we construct an innovative index of fear of crime composed of three dimensions: emotion, cognition and behavior. Second, we build measures of income and education inequality representative at the municipal level. Lastly, we assess the causal effect of inequalities on fear of crime, controlling both for the hierarchical structure of the data and endogeneity bias relying on two-stage least squares (2SLS) multilevel models. Our results suggest a strong positive linear relationship between municipal income inequality and fear of crime. However, the observed effect is stronger for the emotive and behavioral dimensions. Concerning education inequality, we also find a positive impact on feeling of unsafety (emotive dimension), but of smaller magnitude, and on risk perception (cognitive dimension). While our results are robust to different robustness checks for income inequality, they are less stable for education inequality. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Suggested Citation

  • Matthieu Clement & Lucie Piaser, 2021. "Do inequalities predict fear of crime? Empirical evidence from Mexico," Post-Print hal-03433346, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03433346
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105354
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03433346
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alberto Alesina & Eliana La Ferrara, 2000. "Participation in Heterogeneous Communities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 847-904.
    2. Alesina, Alberto & La Ferrara, Eliana, 2002. "Who trusts others?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 207-234, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhe Song & Chen Hao, 2022. "Housing price and criminal crime in China: direct and indirect influence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(40), pages 4647-4663, August.
    2. Aldenis Vásquez & Rafael Alvarado & Brayan Tillaguango & Cem Işık & Muntasir Murshed, 2023. "Impact of Social and Institutional Indicators on the Homicide Rate in Ecuador: An Analysis Using Advanced Time Series Techniques," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Godsway Korku Tetteh, 2023. "Local digital lending development and the incidence of deprivation in Kenya," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-26, December.

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    Keywords

    Crime; Education; Estimation Method; Income; Mexico [North America]; Modeling;
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