Inequality and Property Crime: Does Absolute Inequality Matter?

Abstract

Economic crime models and the social strain theory argue that income inequality can foster property crime, yet empirical studies do not provide strong support for this relationship across countries. An important limitation of these studies is that they only consider relative inequality measures and omit absolute ones. Absolute inequality can have a crime-inducing effect for two main reasons: First, the potential monetary returns from crime can be expected to depend on the interaction between relative income inequality and mean income. Second, higher levels of absolute inequality imply that the economic elite can capture institutions in ways that can make them dysfunctional for society as a whole. This article finds that, in contrast to relative inequality, absolute inequality is a robust and statistically significant determinant of violent property crime rates for a sample of up to 59 developed and developing countries.

Empirical evidence on the relationship between material deprivation and crime: an analysis of the case of Spain

“…Academic literature has extensively examined the effect of inequality on crime, primarily focusing on the most violent criminal typologies. A significant portion of these investigations agrees that an increase in inequality is positively correlated with the rise in violent crimes (Constantini et al, 2018;Fajnzylber et al, 2002;Goda and García, 2019;Kang, 2016;Rowhani-Rahbar et al, 2019). Among these studies, those that assert that countries or societies with high levels of inequality tend to have a higher homicide rate stand out (Blau and Blau, 1982;Enamorado et al, 2016;Li et al, 2019;Nivette, 2011;Ouimet, 2012;Santos et al, 2018;Torres Téllez, 2022;Wilkins et al, 2019).…”

Faktor Ekonomi Yang Mempengaruhi Penurunan Kriminalitas Di Provinsi Jawa Tengah: Analisis Mikroekonomi

“…Faktor ekonomi negatif menjadi insentif kriminalitas berkurang hanya jika faktor ekonomi negatif tersebut diantisipasi. Contoh faktor ekonomi negatif yang diantisipasi adalah tingkat pengangguran (Buba et al, 2018;Ishak & Bani, 2017;Khan et al, 2015), tingkat kemiskinan (Diaw et al, 2014;Opeyemi Oyelade, 2019;Pare & Felson, 2014;Song et al, 2020), dan ketimpangan ekonomi (Buba et al, 2018;Goda & Torres García, 2019;Grover, 2013;Heimer, 2019;Lobonţ et al, 2017).…”

Spatial Modeling and Analysis of the Determinants of Property Crime in Portugal

“…Imran et al [72] argue that poverty leads to property crime in the long run in the USA. In an across-countries study, Goda and Torres García [76] empirically concluded that absolute income inequality is a more significant and robust determinant of violent property crime than relative inequality. A cross-national study showed that income inequality has little or no effect on crime in Western/Southern Europe [77].…”