TY - JOUR
T1 - A structural model of crime and inequality in Colombia
AU - Bourguignon, François
AU - Nuñez, Jairo
AU - Sanchez, Fabio
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - Economic theory suggests that inequality should influence crime positively. Yet, the evidence in favor of that hypothesis is weak. Pure cross-sectional analyses show significant positive effects but cannot control for fixed effects. Time series and panel data point to a variety of results, but few turn out being significant. The hypothesis maintained in this paper is that it is a specific part of the distribution, rather than the overall distribution as summarized by conventional inequality measures, that is most likely to influence the rate of (property) crime in a given society. Using a simple theoretical model and panel data in seven Colombian cities over a fifteen-year period, a structural model is proposed that permits identifying the precise segment of the population whose relative income best explains time changes in crime.
AB - Economic theory suggests that inequality should influence crime positively. Yet, the evidence in favor of that hypothesis is weak. Pure cross-sectional analyses show significant positive effects but cannot control for fixed effects. Time series and panel data point to a variety of results, but few turn out being significant. The hypothesis maintained in this paper is that it is a specific part of the distribution, rather than the overall distribution as summarized by conventional inequality measures, that is most likely to influence the rate of (property) crime in a given society. Using a simple theoretical model and panel data in seven Colombian cities over a fifteen-year period, a structural model is proposed that permits identifying the precise segment of the population whose relative income best explains time changes in crime.
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U2 - 10.1162/154247603322391071
DO - 10.1162/154247603322391071
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33646447549
SN - 1542-4766
VL - 1
SP - 440
EP - 449
JO - Journal of the European Economic Association
JF - Journal of the European Economic Association
IS - 2-3
ER -