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Femicide in Latin America: An economic approach

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Álvarez-Garavito
  • Hugo Nicolás Acosta-González

Abstract

Justification: The rising cases of femicide across Latin America have pushed governments to enact specific laws criminalizing this gender-based murder to deter violence and crime against women. However, given the lack of data, the effect of these legislations is unknown. We aim to understand the causes and mechanisms of femicide across Latin American countries, as well as the possible effect of the legislation on femicide rate. We propose an economic approach that combines ideas proposed by Becker’s economics of crime and bargaining household models to understand the mechanisms behind femicide. The proposed approach suggests that legislation has a positive effect on reducing the number of murders of women by increasing the likelihood of the criminal being convicted and punished, thus changing these criminals’ incentives to commit the crime. However, government inaction and impunity towards femicide may impede the effectiveness of legislation in deterring criminal behavior. As data on femicide becomes available, the effect of the legislation on femicide rates could be estimated using a difference in difference method.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Álvarez-Garavito & Hugo Nicolás Acosta-González, 2021. "Femicide in Latin America: An economic approach," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, vol. 88(1), pages 11-42, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000090:019409
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    File URL: https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/doi/pdf/10.13043/DYS.88.1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intimate Partner Violence; Legislation; Microeconomics; LatinAmerica;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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