Search results

1 – 10 of over 18000
Article
Publication date: 19 December 2022

Gizem Uzuner, Bünyamin Fuat Yıldız, Murat Anıl Mercan and Wing-Keung Wong

The specific objective of the study is to investigate the presence of natural rate of crime rates in selected emerging economies by using panel unit roots. The majority of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The specific objective of the study is to investigate the presence of natural rate of crime rates in selected emerging economies by using panel unit roots. The majority of the literature examines the issue using conventional unit root tests in a country-specific context. Meanwhile, there is no panel unit root investigation has been undertaken considering both cross-sectional dependence (CD) and structural changes.

Design/methodology/approach

As a result, this study is to fill the aforementioned gap and validate the natural rate of crime rates for 10 countries by using a Fourier panel unit root test. The advantage of the test is that structural shifts are modelled as gradual or smooth changes with a Fourier approximation, and it also accounts cross-sectional dependency. Thus, the Fourier panel unit root test may have better performance in capturing potential changes in the nature of data.

Findings

The result of the conventional unit roots test shows evidence of the hysteresis effect in crime, as it stands does not adequately account for smooth transitions or breaks. On contrary, the Fourier panel unit root test confirms the natural rate hypothesis in crime rates. The present results highlight the detrimental effects of crime cannot be abated by short-run deterrence policies.

Originality/value

Contrary to previous studies, the theoretical implications of the study imply that the empirical models consider the dynamic nature of crime rates should account for natural rate properties instead of the hysteresis assumption.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 53 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2020

Bijoy Rakshit and Yadawananda Neog

The primary purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of educational attainment on crime rates across 33 Indian states over the period 2001 to 2013. This…

Abstract

Purpose

The primary purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of educational attainment on crime rates across 33 Indian states over the period 2001 to 2013. This paper also examines the role of various macroeconomic, socio-economic and demographic factors in determining the variation of crimes in India.

Design/methodology/approach

First, this paper provides a representative theoretical model and discusses the possible relationship between crime and education. Second, the paper applies a dynamic panel data (DPD) model to extract more precise, unbiased and reliable estimates of the effect of education in abating different crime rates. The main advantage of using the dynamic panel model is to address the problem of endogeneity in some regressors and capture the time persistent effect of education on crime.

Findings

Empirical findings reveal that a 1% increase in gross enrolment ratio leads to the reduction of total crime by 8%. However, a unique finding identifies a positive association between tertiary education and economic crime. This finding further goes against the general belief that criminals tend to be less educated than non-criminals.

Practical implications

This paper recommends that instead of punishment and mandatory law enforcement for offenders, increase in government expenditure and different educational attainment ratios can go a long way to combat crime in India, which has posed a serious threat to the stability of society. Furthermore, utilizing the information on offenders' educational attainment in examining the crime rates can be a future research agenda for policymakers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the empirical debate of ‘crime-education nexus’ by examining the role of education on crime in India. This study is the first of its kind that focuses on the aspects of crime and education more recently and investigates the relationship between crime and education due to the recent changes in educational attainment ratios and crime rate.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 48 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2013

Timothy C. Hart and Paul A. Zandbergen

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of reference data, input address quality, and crime type on completeness and positional accuracy of street geocoded crime

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of reference data, input address quality, and crime type on completeness and positional accuracy of street geocoded crime events.

Design/methodology/approach

Existing data were analyzed using ArcGIS, including crime incident information, street network reference data, and address point and/or parcel reference data. Geocoding completeness was determined by the overall match rate. Positional accuracy was determined by comparing the Euclidian distance between street geocoded locations of crime events to the corresponding address point/parcel geocoded location.

Findings

Results indicate that match rates vary by reference data, input address quality, and crime type. Local street centerline files consistently produced match rates that were as good as – and in many cases superior to – other types of reference data, including commercial data. Greater variability in positional accuracy was observed across reference data when crime type and input address quality was considered, but results were consistent with positional accuracy analysis conducted using data from other disciplines.

Practical implications

Results provide researchers and practitioners with valuable guidance and insight into one of the most basic – albeit fundamental – procedures related to the spatio‐temporal analysis of crime, suggesting that reference data required to produce geocoded crime incidents successfully and of high quality does not necessarily mean a large financial investment on the part of law enforcement agencies or researchers interested in the geospatial analysis of crime.

Originality/value

Prior to this investigation, a comprehensive examination of the impact of data quality on geocoded crime events was absent from the literature.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2020

Devika Hazra

This paper uses data from 2010 to 2016 across 32 states and union territories to investigate the determinants of crime in India. Results indicate the significance of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper uses data from 2010 to 2016 across 32 states and union territories to investigate the determinants of crime in India. Results indicate the significance of macroeconomic, demographic, socioeconomic and deterrence factors in accounting for various categories of crime.

Design/methodology/approach

Due to the evidence of heteroskedasticity and cross-sectional dependence, linear regression with panel-corrected standard errors is implemented.

Findings

It has been found that among the macroeconomic factors, only GSDP per capita was found relevant in explaining total crime rates. However, the unemployment rate and price level are crucial in explaining some categories of crime. The demographic factor, that is, population density, socioeconomic factors, that is, income inequality, poverty rate, literacy rate exhibit important and significant relationship with crime rates in India. Further, out of the four deterrence factors, charge-sheeting rate, conviction rate, pendency in police cases are important in explaining various categories of crime rates in India.

Originality/value

While implications of some socioeconomic variables are consistent with those found in previous studies, literacy rates and deterrence variables were found to have a positive association with crime. In particular, in a developing country such as India, white-collar crimes tend to increase as literacy rates increase. This calls for implementing policies that lead to greater employment opportunities for the educated masses. This paper also sheds light on the relationship between deterrence factors and crime rates in India. Deficiencies in the legal and judicial system have been detrimental to the nation's ability to curb crime rates.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 47 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2021

Alex Johanes Simamora

This paper aims to examine the effect of managerial ability (MA) on real earnings management and the effect of real earnings management by higher ability managers on future…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effect of managerial ability (MA) on real earnings management and the effect of real earnings management by higher ability managers on future profitability, at a different level of the crime rate.

Design/methodology/approach

The research sample includes 864 manufacturing firms-years listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange. MA uses an efficiency score by data envelopment analysis. Real earnings management is measured by abnormal activities. The crime rate is measured by logarithm natural of the number of crimes per 100.000 citizens in the region where the firm is headquartered. Data analysis uses fixed-effect regression.

Findings

MA increases real earnings management in the region where the firm is headquartered with a higher crime rate while MA will reduce real earnings management in the region where the firm is headquartered with a lower crime rate. Also, real earnings management by higher-ability managers gives a signal of better future profitability in the region where the firm is headquartered with a lower crime rate.

Originality/value

This research contributes to filling the previous gap of managerial characteristics ability-related on real earnings management by providing regional crime rate as a determinant factor of managers’ ethical behavior. This research is the first one to considers the regional crime rate treatment to the relationship between MA and real earnings management especially in Indonesia. This research also provides new evidence of efficient real earnings management for a lower crime rate group of samples to give a signal of better future profitability.

Details

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 September 2012

Daniel E. Martínez

Purpose – Extant studies have shown immigration does not lead to higher crime rates, yet this fallacy persists. The aim of this chapter is to explore the relationship between crime

Abstract

Purpose – Extant studies have shown immigration does not lead to higher crime rates, yet this fallacy persists. The aim of this chapter is to explore the relationship between crime and the presence and growth of the Latino and the foreign-born populations in Washington DC's City Council Wards.

Methodology/approach – This chapter draws on Uniform Crime Reports data and Census information to compare and contrast crimes rates, the presence and growth of the Latino and foreign-born populations, and socioeconomic indicators across Washington DC.

Findings – Violent and property crimes rates have decreased consistently since the mid-1990s despite the growth of the Latino and the foreign-born populations. While there are significant differences between crimes rates at the Council Ward level, they appear to be associated with persistent structural inequality – not the presence or growth of either group.

Research limitations – This work is largely exploratory and descriptive. Results should be interpreted with caution. Future research should employ multivariate methods to systematically identify factors that most significantly and strongly explicate crime rates within and across DC Wards.

Social implications – Preliminary findings suggest policy makers should shift attention away from scapegoating immigrants for social ills and focus on improving social and economic opportunities and the life outcomes of racialized subordinate group members throughout the United States.

Originality – Little empirical research exists focusing on the relationship between immigration and crime in the nation's capital. This is a significant gap in the literature considering the recent rapid growth of the foreign-born and Latino populations in Washington DC.

Details

Hispanic Migration and Urban Development: Studies from Washington DC
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-345-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 November 1994

E. Eide

Abstract

Details

Economics of Crime: Deterrence and the Rational Offender
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-44482-072-3

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2018

Mateus Rennó Santos and Alexander Testa

Purpose – This chapter explains what is known about international homicide trends, highlights gaps in existing literature, and proposes avenues for future research that will…

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter explains what is known about international homicide trends, highlights gaps in existing literature, and proposes avenues for future research that will expand understanding about international homicide.

Design/methodology/approach – We review extant literature on international homicide trends, and draw on data from the World Health Organization from 1990 to 2015 to identify patterns in contemporary international homicide trends.

Findings – We demonstrate evidence of an international homicide drop across most regions around the world. Nonetheless, the homicide decline is not a global event as several countries – particularly countries with high homicide rates – did not experience reductions in homicide during this period. The key question remains as to what the causes of changes in international homicide rates are and why many countries experience very similar reductions in homicide while a few experienced increasing violence. We propose potential explanations and suggest areas for future research.

Originality/value – This chapter documents an international homicide decline occurring between 1990 and 2015. We also demonstrate that homicide trends are likely influenced by factors beyond local phenomena and domestic policies since homicide rates largely track together for regions throughout the world. Accordingly, the chapter suggests potential avenues for future research that can help better explain this trend.

Book part
Publication date: 31 December 2010

Howard Bodenhorn, Carolyn M. Moehling and Anne Morrison Piehl

Past studies of the empirical relationship between immigration and crime during the first major wave of immigration have focused on violent crime in cities and have relied on data…

Abstract

Past studies of the empirical relationship between immigration and crime during the first major wave of immigration have focused on violent crime in cities and have relied on data with serious limitations regarding nativity information. We analyze administrative data from Pennsylvania prisons, with high-quality information on nativity and demographic characteristics. The latter allow us to construct incarceration rates for detailed population groups using U.S. Census data. The raw gap in incarceration rates for the foreign and native born is large, in accord with the extremely high concern at the time about immigrant criminality. But adjusting for age and gender greatly narrows that observed gap. Particularly striking are the urban/rural differences. Immigrants were concentrated in large cities where reported crime rates were higher. However, within rural counties, the foreign born had much higher incarceration rates than the native born. The interaction of nativity with urban residence explains much of the observed aggregate differentials in incarceration rates. Finally, we find that the foreign born, especially the Irish, consistently have higher incarceration rates for violent crimes, but from 1850 to 1860 the natives largely closed the gap with the foreign born for property offenses.

Details

Migration and Culture
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-153-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2022

Caner Demir and Süleyman Emre Ozcan

This study investigates the impacts of green space and air quality on crime rates for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the 2003–2017…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the impacts of green space and air quality on crime rates for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the 2003–2017 period.

Design/methodology/approach

By building an international data set, including both green space and air pollution at the same time in the model, and considering the potential endogeneities between variables, the study brings some novelties to the existing literature. Using the United Nations Crime Trends Survey and World Development Indicators databases, a panel data set of 37 OECD countries for 2003–2017 period was collected. To avoid the potential endogenous relationships between variables, the system-Generalized Method of Moments (system-GMM) method was applied.

Findings

The findings suggest that increases in green space reduce the crime rate, while increases in air pollution raise it. Additionally, the estimated control variables show that there are many statistically significant factors that determine the crime rate. In all the additional models, the effects of green space and air pollution were estimated consistently, which can be taken as a sign that the findings are robust.

Originality/value

The evidence of the study explicitly reveals that environmentally friendly policies provide benefits in terms of reducing crime rates as well as other known benefits. On the other hand, to represent the environmental dimension, this is the first study which uses a cross-country data set including both green space and air pollution in the model at the same time. Second, the issue has not been previously dealt with for OECD countries. Thirdly, the study considered the potential endogeneity between variables, and to check the robustness of the findings, some prominent factors affecting the crime rate were used as control variables.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 18000