Inequality and crime

Author(s)
Uri
Date Issued
November 2000
Date Available
16T13:37:05Z September 2008
Abstract
This paper considers the relationship between inequality and crime using data from urban counties. The behavior of property and violent crime are quite different. Inequality has no effect on property crime but a strong and robust impact on violent crime, with an elasticity above 0.5. By contrast, poverty and police activity have significant effects on property crime, but little on violent crime. Property crime is well explained by the economic theory of crime, while violent crime is better explained by strain and social disorganization theories.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
MIT Press
Journal
Review of Economics and Statistics
Volume
82
Issue
4
Start Page
530
End Page
539
Copyright (Published Version)
Copyright 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Subject – LCSH
Crime--Sociological aspects
Violent crimes
Offenses against property
DOI
Web versions
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0034-6535
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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kellym_article_pub_004.pdf

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Economics Research Collection