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The Dark Figure of Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author

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  • Laura Jaitman

    (Ministry of the Treasury of Argentina)

  • Victoria Anauati

    (Ministry of the Treasury of Argentina)

Abstract

The dark figure of crime is the gap between crimes reported in victimization surveys and crimes registered in administrative police records. This paper quantifies the dark figure of gender-based violent crimes through a systematic comparison between official crime figures and victimization surveys in Latin America and the Caribbean over 2004–2014. We find that the dark figure of gender-based violent crimes is between 92 and 95% in comparison with a dark figure of between 63 and 80% in developed countries. This means that in the region, around 5 out of every 100 crimes are found in administrative police records. The dark figure of gender-based violent crimes is similar to that of extortion and kidnapping, but it is significantly greater than the dark figure of assaults and robberies of vehicles (65 and 52%, respectively). Our results show that the perception of corruption and the low confidence in the police are positively associated with the dark figure of crime through the channel of under-reporting and that the dark figure of gender-based violent crimes is greater in rural areas. These findings provide evidence of a potential bias in administrative police data and the need for policies aimed at reducing under-reporting, in particular for gender-based violent crimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Jaitman & Victoria Anauati, 2020. "The Dark Figure of Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 76-95, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joerap:v:3:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s41996-019-00042-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s41996-019-00042-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rafael Di Tella & Sebastian Edwards & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2010. "The Economics of Crime: Lessons For and From Latin America," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number dite09-1.
    2. Di Tella, Rafael & Edwards, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto (ed.), 2010. "The Economics of Crime," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226153742.
    3. Rodrigo R. Soares & Joana Naritomi, 2010. "Understanding High Crime Rates in Latin America: The Role of Social and Policy Factors," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Crime: Lessons For and From Latin America, pages 19-55, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Angela Zorro Medina & Camilo Acosta & Daniel Mejía, 2020. "The Unintended Consequences of the U.S. Adversarial Model in Latin American Crime," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 18406, Universidad EAFIT.
    2. Spencer P. Chainey & Dennis L. Lazarus, 2021. "More Offenders, More Crime: Estimating the Size of the Offender Population in a Latin American Setting," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, September.

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