Labour market conditions and crime in Greece

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of unemployment on various types of crime in Greece.

Design/methodology/approach

A battery of econometric tests, including Granger causality tests, a variance decomposition analysis, and an impulse response analysis are used to explore the nexus between unemployment and 14 different types of crime.

Findings

Out of the 14 different types of criminal activity, only in the case of three – vehicle thefts, robberies and contraband & smuggling – was a nexus with unemployment established.

Practical implications

Given that such criminal activity is primarily motivated and driven by economic gain, a policy implication is that crime thwarting policies need to be complemented by corresponding labour market interventions, especially in periods of recession, when unemployment emerges as a major problem for disadvantaged social groups.

Originality/value

The issue between labour market conditions and crime has not been addressed before in the case of Greece, a country that has experienced a generally growing crime rate.

Citation

Kollias, C. and Paleologou, S. (2012), "Labour market conditions and crime in Greece", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 39 No. 12, pp. 983-1000. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291211269109