IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/apeclt/v13y2006i12p805-810.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unemployment and crime: an empirical investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Lee
  • Stephen Holoviak

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between labour market conditions and various crime series in three Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, Japan and South Korea. Johansen's maximum likelihood cointegration tests are applied to annual, aggregate data to see whether there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between unemployment and crime variables. In a society with a high unemployment rate, especially among young males, the opportunity cost of crime is relatively low so that criminal activities tend to increase. Although theoretically well-formulated, previous empirical studies of this hypothesis have yielded mixed evidence. The results of this study, however, appear to provide strong support for a long-run equilibrium relationship between unemployment and several crime series. This may be due to the use of cointegration method in the study, which is quite common in the area of economics and finance, but has not been applied extensively to the study of crime. Empirical support seems to be even stronger for the relationship between unemployment among young males and crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Lee & Stephen Holoviak, 2006. "Unemployment and crime: an empirical investigation," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(12), pages 805-810.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:13:y:2006:i:12:p:805-810
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850500425105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&doi=10.1080/13504850500425105&magic=repec&7C&7C8674ECAB8BB840C6AD35DC6213A474B5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13504850500425105?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    3. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    4. Papps, Kerry L. & Winkelmann, Rainer, 1998. "Unemployment and Crime: New Answers to an Old Question," IZA Discussion Papers 25, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Carmichael, Fiona & Ward, Robert, 2001. "Male unemployment and crime in England and Wales," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 111-115, October.
    6. Ehrlich, Isaac, 1973. "Participation in Illegitimate Activities: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 521-565, May-June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Su Jin Kang & Wonseok Seo, 2020. "The Effects of Multilayered Disorder Characteristics on Fear of Crime in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Vinoj Abraham, 2012. "The Deteriorating Labour Market Conditions and Crime: An Analysis of Indian States during 2001-2008," Millennial Asia, , vol. 3(2), pages 207-231, July.
    3. Thomas A. Garrett & Lesli S. Ott, 2008. "City business cycles and crime," Working Papers 2008-026, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    4. Siwach, Garima, 2018. "Unemployment shocks for individuals on the margin: Exploring recidivism effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 231-244.
    5. Ferda Halicioglu, 2012. "Temporal causality and the dynamics of crime in Turkey," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(9), pages 704-720, July.
    6. Sarah A. Frederick & James J. Jozefowicz & Zackary T. Nelson, 2016. "A dynamic panel data study of the unemployment-crime relationship: the case of Pennsylvania," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1497-1507.
    7. Chletsos, Michael & Sintos, Andreas, 2023. "The effects of IMF conditional programs on the unemployment rate," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Cotte Poveda Alexander, 2011. "Socio-Economic Development and Violence: An Empirical Application for Seven Metropolitan Areas in Colombia," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, September.
    9. Mohamad Kassem & Amjad Ali & Marc Audi, 2019. "Unemployment Rate, Population Density and Crime Rate in Punjab (Pakistan): An Empirical Analysis," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(2), pages 92-104, June.
    10. Tauã Vital & Daniel Morais De Souza & Jessica Faciroli, 2020. "Unemployment, poverty and police performance: an ARDL analysis of crime in São Paulo," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(1), pages 128-139.
    11. Kabeya Clement Mulamba, 2021. "A Spatial Analysis of Property Crime Rates in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(3), pages 329-347, September.
    12. Halicioglu, Ferda & Andrés, Antonio R. & Yamamura, Eiji, 2012. "Modeling crime in Japan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1640-1645.
    13. Dmitry Burakov, 2019. "Oil Hikes, Drugs and Bribes: Do Oil Prices Matter for Crime Rate in Russia?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(1), pages 84-94.
    14. Sediq Sameem & Kevin Sylwester, 2016. "Unemployment and Homicides: Evidence from Individual Level U.S. Data," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1295-1305.

    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. Halicioglu, Ferda & Andrés, Antonio R. & Yamamura, Eiji, 2012. "Modeling crime in Japan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1640-1645.
    2. Mohamad Kassem & Amjad Ali & Marc Audi, 2019. "Unemployment Rate, Population Density and Crime Rate in Punjab (Pakistan): An Empirical Analysis," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(2), pages 92-104, June.
    3. Philip A. Curry & Anindya Sen & George Orlov, 2016. "Crime, apprehension and clearance rates: Panel data evidence from Canadian provinces," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(2), pages 481-514, May.
    4. Edmark, Karin, 2003. "The Effects of Unemployment on Property Crime: Evidence from a Period of Unusually Large Swings in the Business Cycle," Working Paper Series 2003:14, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    5. Paresh Kumar Narayan & Russell Smyth, 2006. "Dead man walking: an empirical reassessment of the deterrent effect of capital punishment using the bounds testing approach to cointegration," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(17), pages 1975-1989.
    6. Thiess Buettner, 2003. "Local Determinants of Crime: Distinguishing Between Resident and Non-resident Offenders," ERSA conference papers ersa03p396, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Adekoya Adenuga Fabian & Abdul Razak Nor Azam, 2017. "The Dynamic Relationship between Crime and Economic Growth in Nigeria," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 53(1), pages 47-64, March.
    8. Denis Fougère & Francis Kramarz & Julien Pouget, 2009. "Youth Unemployment and Crime in France," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 7(5), pages 909-938, September.
    9. Jorgen Lauridsen, 2009. "Is Baltic Crime Economically Rational?," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 9(1), pages 31-38, July.
    10. Lu Han & Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay & Samrat Bhattacharya, 2013. "Determinants of violent and property crimes in England and Wales: a panel data analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(34), pages 4820-4830, December.
    11. Eide, Erling & Rubin, Paul H. & Shepherd, Joanna M., 2006. "Economics of Crime," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 2(3), pages 205-279, December.
    12. Adekoya Adenuga Fabian & Razak Nor Azam Abdul, 2016. "The Link Between Economic Growth, Crime and Deterrence Measures in Nigeria," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 26(4), pages 24-40, November.
    13. Stephen Brosnan, 2018. "The Socioeconomic Determinants of Crime in Ireland from 2003-2012," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(2), pages 127-143.
    14. Beraldo, Sergio & Caruso, Raul & Turati, Gilberto, 2013. "Life is now! Time preferences and crime: Aggregate evidence from the Italian regions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 73-81.
    15. Vujić Sunčica & Koopman Siem Jan & Commandeur J.F., 2012. "Economic Trends and Cycles in Crime: A Study for England and Wales," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(6), pages 652-677, December.
    16. Rafael Di Tella & Sebastian Galiani & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2010. "Crime Distribution and Victim Behavior during a Crime Wave," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Crime: Lessons For and From Latin America, pages 175-204, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay & Samrat Bhattacharya & Marianna Koli & Rudra Sensarma, 2012. "Acquisitive Crime, Sentencing and Detection: An Analysis of England and Wales," Discussion Papers 12-09, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    18. Ochsen, Carsten, 2010. "Crime and labor market policy in Europe," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 52-61, March.
    19. Ochsen, Carsten, 2005. "Crime and European labour market policy," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 55, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    20. Nouman Khaliq & Muhammad Shabbir & Zahira Batool, 2019. "Exploring the Influence of Unemployment on Criminal Behavior in Punjab, Pakistan," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(1), pages 402-409, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:apeclt:v:13:y:2006:i:12:p:805-810. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEL20 .

    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.