Governance and Regional Variation of Homicide Rates

Abstract

Criminological theories of cross-national studies of homicide have underestimated the effects of quality governance of liberal democracy and region. Data sets from several sources are combined and a comprehensive model of homicide is proposed. Results of the spatial regression model, which controls for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, show that quality governance, human development, economic inequality, and ethnic heterogeneity are statistically significant in predicting homicide. In addition, regions of Latin America and non-Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa have significantly higher rates of homicides ceteris paribus while the effects of East Asian countries and Islamic societies are not statistically significant. These findings are consistent with the expectation of the new modernization and regional theories.

Violent victimization among immigrants: Using the National Violent Death Reporting System to examine foreign-born homicide victimization in the United States

“…Theorists have long speculated on cultural influences on offending. In support of these theories, cross-national research reinforces hypotheses of a cultural component influencing violence in Latin America ( Nivette, 2011 , Cao and Zhang, 2017 ). Scholars have speculated that the high violence rates are impacted by the culture of “machismo” (e.g., strong, sometimes aggressive, masculinity; Neapolitan, 1994 ) or societal organization around alcohol and street gangs ( Cole and Gramajo, 2009 ).…”

“…Scholars have speculated that the high violence rates are impacted by the culture of “machismo” (e.g., strong, sometimes aggressive, masculinity; Neapolitan, 1994 ) or societal organization around alcohol and street gangs ( Cole and Gramajo, 2009 ). Further, countries in the region possess legacies of colonialism, slavery, and poor governance ( Cao and Zhang, 2017 ). This occurs in a context in which outside nations, notably the U.S., have played a contributing role in destabilizing the region, for example, through the war on drugs ( Youngers and Rosin, 2005 ).…”

Reliability and validity of cross-national homicide data: a comparison of UN and WHO data

“…While many studies have focused on economic measures, such as GDP, these indicators do not capture the social aspects of development levels (Cao & Zhang, 2015 Recent research has indicated the need to evaluate the effects of political and governmental functioning on levels of violence (Cao & Zhang, 2015). The current study draws on a measure of quality of governance (i.e., the World Governance Indicators, or WGI), which is available from the World Bank and includes several indicators.…”

“…These include measures of voice and accountability; political stability and absence of violence; government effectiveness; regulatory quality; rule of law; and control of corruption. Instead of focusing on a single dimension of governance, a composite measure was created through factor analysis, capturing the overall quality of governance (Cao & Zhang, 2015). 3…”

“…Multiyear averages were created for the years 2008-2012 to control for yearly fluctuations (and to some extent, measurement errors) in homicide rates (Altheimer, 2008;Cao & Zhang, 2015;Chon, 2011;Krahn, Hartnagel, & Gartrell, 1986). Due to the skewed distribution of homicide rates, the natural log was applied (Altheimer, 2008;Elgar & Aitken, 2011;Sun, Chu, & Sung, 2010); the same solution was applied to other independent and control variables that deviated from a normal distribution.…”