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Crime, Inequality and Unemployment in England and Wales

Author

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  • Dongxu Wu

    (Fitzwilliam College - CAM - University of Cambridge [UK])

  • Zhongmin Wu

    (Economics - Nottingham Business School)

Abstract

A model of crime is developed based on principles from the existing literature with some original insight. The implications of the model are that income inequality and unemployment are important explanatory variables for crimes motivated by economic gain, but do not offer much explanatory power for other types of crime. A panel data of UK regions over the years from 2002 to 2007 is then used to test these predictions. The empirical results strongly support the hypothesis that crime is an economic phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Dongxu Wu & Zhongmin Wu, 2011. "Crime, Inequality and Unemployment in England and Wales," Post-Print hal-00712374, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00712374
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2011.581217
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00712374
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    Cited by:

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    2. David Hauner & Ali Kutan & Christy Spivey, 2012. "Inequality and crime: evidence from Russia's regions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(17), pages 1667-1671.
    3. Gail Pacheco, 2012. "The cost of poor transitions for youth," Working Papers 2012-09, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    4. 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.
    5. Pazzona, Matteo, 2024. "Revisiting the Income Inequality-Crime Puzzle," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Goh, Lim Thye & Law, Siong Hook, 2023. "The crime rate of five Latin American countries: Does income inequality matter?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 745-763.
    7. Manea, Roxana Elena & Piraino, Patrizio & Viarengo, Martina, 2023. "Crime, inequality and subsidized housing: Evidence from South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    8. Aadil Hameed Shah & Atta Ullah Khan & Abdul Saboor & Muhammad Iftikhar‐ul‐Husnain, 2022. "Approximation of crime, poverty, and misery index across quasi‐democratic and dictatorship regimes in Pakistan: Static and dynamic analysis," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(1), pages 50-68, March.
    9. Tiago Freire, 2015. "City of God Redux: Inequality, Migration, and Violent Crime in Brazil between 1980 and 2000," ERSA conference papers ersa15p658, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Ali M. Ahmed & Elisabeth Lång, 2017. "The employability of ex-offenders: a field experiment in the Swedish labor market," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-23, December.
    11. 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.
    12. Mauro Costantini & Iris Meco & Antonio Paradiso, 2016. "Common trends in the US state-level crime.What do panel data say?," Working Papers 2016:14, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    13. Amjad Ali & Chan Bibi, 2020. "Public Policies, Socio-Economic Environment And Crimes In Pakistan: A Time Series Analysis," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, March.
    14. Amit Ghosh & Salvador Contreras, 2022. "Local Banking Market Frictions and Youth Crime: Evidence from Bank Failures," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 43-75, February.
    15. Jawadi, Fredj & Mallick, Sushanta K. & Idi Cheffou, Abdoulkarim & Augustine, Anish, 2021. "Does higher unemployment lead to greater criminality? Revisiting the debate over the business cycle," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 448-471.
    16. Gail Pacheco & Jessica Dye, 2013. "Estimating the Cost of Youth Disengagement in New Zealand," Working Papers 2013-04, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    17. 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.
    18. Duque, Magali & Mcknight, Abigail, 2019. "Understanding the relationship between inequalities and poverty: mechanisms associated with crime, the legal system and punitive sanctions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103459, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Magali Duque & Abigail McKnight, 2019. "Understanding the relationship between inequalities and poverty: mechanisms associated with crime, the legal system and punitive sanctions," CASE Papers /215, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    20. Jing Yuan & Xiaomin Liu & Yinghui Wang & Zongwu Cai, 2024. "Impact of Minimum Wage Standard on Occupational Income Inequality and Common Prosperity in China," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202404, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Feb 2024.
    21. Iljoong Kim & Jaewook Byeon, 2017. "Discretionary prosecution of regulatory crimes: disproportionate emphasis and consequences to other serious crimes," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 559-587, October.

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