IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v11y2022i3p142-d776270.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Criminality and Income Inequality in Indonesia

Author

Listed:
  • Lilik Sugiharti

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia)

  • Miguel Angel Esquivias

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia)

  • Mohd Shahidan Shaari

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia
    Faculty of Applied and Human Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Arau 02660, Malaysia)

  • Lussi Agustin

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia)

  • Hilda Rohmawati

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia
    Ministry of National Development Planning, Jakarta 10310, Indonesia)

Abstract

We investigate whether a nexus exists between income inequality and criminal activity in Indonesia. Additionally, we examine socioeconomic variables and potential links with criminal actions (i.e., crime rate, murder, rape, physical abuse, robbery, and fraud). We use the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, employing data for 34 provinces in Indonesia over the period of 2010–2019. The results indicate that income inequality is associated with higher criminal activity. Overall, lower unemployment, larger investment (foreign and domestic), and higher human development (education and health) can help reduce crime in Indonesia. However, higher income can reduce physical abuse and crime rates, but theft and fraud increase with income growth. Rising unemployment increases rape, abuse, robbery, and fraud. Still, unemployment does not affect murder, suggesting that non-economic factors are dominant in explaining murder and violent crimes. Furthermore, income inequality can increase robbery and fraud, although it has no significant effects on murder, rape, and abuse. Government spending on social assistance and more efficient settlement of criminal acts can lower crime rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilik Sugiharti & Miguel Angel Esquivias & Mohd Shahidan Shaari & Lussi Agustin & Hilda Rohmawati, 2022. "Criminality and Income Inequality in Indonesia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:3:p:142-:d:776270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/3/142/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/3/142/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dan Anderberg & Helmut Rainer & Jonathan Wadsworth & Tanya Wilson, 2016. "Unemployment and Domestic Violence: Theory and Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(597), pages 1947-1979, November.
    2. Rudolph, Maximilian & Starke, Peter, 2020. "How does the welfare state reduce crime? The effect of program characteristics and decommodification across 18 OECD-countries," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Asongu, Simplice & Acha-Anyi, Paul, 2017. "The Murder Epidemic: A Global Comparative Study," MPRA Paper 85486, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jan 2018.
    4. Dan Anderberg & Helmut Rainer & Jonathan Wadsworth & Tanya Wilson, 2016. "Unemployment and Domestic Violence: Theory and Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(597), pages 1947-1979, November.
    5. Arief Anshory Yusuf & Andy Sumner, 2015. "Growth, Poverty, and Inequality under Jokowi," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 323-348, December.
    6. D. Raval, 2021. "Who is Victimized by Fraud? Evidence from Consumer Protection Cases," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 43-72, March.
    7. Seema Vyas & Charlotte Watts, 2009. "How does economic empowerment affect women's risk of intimate partner violence in low and middle income countries? A systematic review of published evidence," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(5), pages 577-602.
    8. Bebonchu Atems, 2020. "Identifying the Dynamic Effects of Income Inequality on Crime," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(4), pages 751-782, August.
    9. Pierskalla, Jan H. & Sacks, Audrey, 2017. "Unpacking the Effect of Decentralized Governance on Routine Violence: Lessons from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 213-228.
    10. Dongxu Wu & Zhongmin Wu, 2012. "Crime, inequality and unemployment in England and Wales," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(29), pages 3765-3775, October.
    11. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    12. Sharanya Basu Roy & Sayantan Ghosh Dastidar, 2018. "Why do men rape? Understanding the determinants of rapes in India," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 1435-1457, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anders Kjelsrud & Kristin Vikan Sjurgard, 2022. "Public Work and Private Violence," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(9), pages 1791-1806, September.
    2. Lilik Sugiharti & Rudi Purwono & Miguel Angel Esquivias & Hilda Rohmawati, 2023. "The Nexus between Crime Rates, Poverty, and Income Inequality: A Case Study of Indonesia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Sara Cools & Martin Flatø & Andreas Kotsadam, 2020. "Rainfall shocks and intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(3), pages 377-390, May.
    4. Dan Anderberg & Gloria Moroni, 2020. "Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Children's Dynamic Skill Accumulation: Evidence from a UK Longitudinal Study," CESifo Working Paper Series 8381, CESifo.
    5. Andreas Kotsadam & Espen Villanger, 2020. "Jobs and Intimate Partner Violence - Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ethiopia," CESifo Working Paper Series 8108, CESifo.
    6. Dan Anderberg & Gloria Moroni, 2020. "Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Children’s Dynamic Skill Accumulation: Evidence from a UK Longitudinal Study," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-036/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Marco Colagrossi & Claudio Deiana & Andrea Geraci & Ludovica Giua, 2022. "Hang up on stereotypes: Domestic violence and an anti‐abuse helpline campaign," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(4), pages 585-611, October.
    8. Bennett, Patrick & Ravetti, Chiara & Wong, Po Yin, 2021. "Losing in a boom: Long-term consequences of a local economic shock for female labour market outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Surya Nath Maiti, 2024. "Domestic Risk Factors, Violence and Marital Dissolution: Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey of India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(5), pages 1147-1170, October.
    10. Beland, Louis-Philippe & Brodeur, Abel & Haddad, Joanne & Mikola, Derek, 2020. "Covid-19, Family Stress and Domestic Violence: Remote Work, Isolation and Bargaining Power," GLO Discussion Paper Series 571, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Ana Tur-Prats, 2019. "Family Types and Intimate Partner Violence: A Historical Perspective," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 878-891, December.
    12. Díaz, Juan-José & Saldarriaga, Victor, 2023. "A drop of love? Rainfall shocks and spousal abuse: Evidence from rural Peru," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Ana Tur-Prats, 2017. "Unemployment and intimate-partner violence: A gender-identity approach," Economics Working Papers 1564, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    14. Black, Dan A. & Grogger, Jeffrey & Kirchmaier, Tom & Sanders, Koen, 2023. "Criminal charges, risk assessment and violent recidivism in cases of domestic abuse," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121374, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Rocha, Fabiana & Diaz, Maria Dolores Montoya & Pereda, Paula Carvalho & Árabe, Isadora Bousquat & Cavalcanti, Filipe & Lordemus, Samuel & Kreif, Noemi & Moreno-Serra, Rodrigo, 2024. "COVID-19 and violence against women: Current knowledge, gaps, and implications for public policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Pablo Selaya & Neda Trifkovic & Vincent Leyaro, 2023. "Gender altruism and attitudes towards violence against women," DERG working paper series 23-19, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Development Economics Research Group (DERG).
    17. Leslie, Emily & Wilson, Riley, 2020. "Sheltering in place and domestic violence: Evidence from calls for service during COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    18. Gustavo J Bobonis & Roberto Castro & Juan S Morales, 2020. "Legal Reforms, Conditional Cash Transfers, and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Mexico," Working Papers tecipa-678, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    19. García-Ramos, Aixa, 2021. "Divorce laws and intimate partner violence: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    20. Denti, Daria & Iammarino, Simona, 2022. "Coming Out of the Woods. Do local support services influence the propensity to report sexual violence?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 334-352.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:3:p:142-:d:776270. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.