Crime and Local Inequality in South Africa
The authors examine the effects of local inequality on property and violent crime in South Africa. Their findings are consistent with economic theories relating inequality to property crime, and also with sociological theories that imply that inequ...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/11/2075370/crime-local-inequality-south-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19208 |
| Summary: | The authors examine the effects of local
inequality on property and violent crime in South Africa.
Their findings are consistent with economic theories
relating inequality to property crime, and also with
sociological theories that imply that inequality leads to
crime in general. Burglary rates are 20-30 percent higher in
police station jurisdictions that are the wealthiest among
their neighbors, suggesting that criminals travel to
neighborhoods where the expected returns from burglary are
highest. The authors do not find evidence that inequality
between racial groups fosters interpersonal conflict at the
local level. |
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