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Does Urbanization Cause Crime? Evidence from Rural-Urban Migration in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Nelly Exbrayat

    (Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Université Lyon 2, GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne UMR 5824, F-42023, Saint-Etienne, France)

  • Victor Stephane

    (Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Université Lyon 2, GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne UMR 5824, F-42023, Saint-Etienne, France)

Abstract

We study the impact of urbanization driven by internal migration on crime in South Africa. We create a new dataset that combines yearly data on crime and urban population density at the municipality level from 2011 to 2018. We exploit exogenous variations in rural-urban migration induced by climate shocks at origin for identification. We show that higher urban population density leads to a reduction in pecuniary crime rate but has no effect on non-pecuniary crime rate. We highlight two mechanisms explaining this negative effect: a change in population composition and a social network effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Nelly Exbrayat & Victor Stephane, 2024. "Does Urbanization Cause Crime? Evidence from Rural-Urban Migration in South Africa," Working Papers 2401, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    • Handle: RePEc:gat:wpaper:2401
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crime; Migration; South Africa; Urbanization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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