Neighbourhood income inequality and property crime

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between income inequality and property crime using Census block group data from three US cities: Nashville, TN, Portland, OR and Tucson, AZ. This paper is one of very few to examine this relationship at such a fine geographic level, which is typically less than one square mile in size. We find that income inequality across block groups plays a key role in determining the level of property crime. As the income gap with one’s poorest neighbouring block group widens, the level of property crime in the richer block group increases. Also, the poorest block group in an area tends to experience less property crime, holding all else constant.

Development of Macro-Level Crime and Collision Prediction Models to Support Data-Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS)

“…Various confidentiality and privacy issues are clearly associated with crime data. As it may not be possible to disclose, for example, the specific locations of some crimes, many crime studies have taken a macro-level approach ( 2 – 4 ).…”

Who aspires to have more? The impacts of social class and economic inequality on people’s desire for wealth and status

“…On the one hand, the optimistic view would be that greater inequality functions as the stimulant for the "have-nots" to seek more wealth and status which, in turn, helps redress or refrain the widening gap between the "have-nots" and the "haves". On the other hand, however, one could infer somewhat pessimistically that the amplified effects of inequality on desire for wealth and status among the "have-nots" also breed more stress and discontent among the "have-nots" which, in turn, leads the "have-nots" to engage in more risk-taking (Mishra et al, 2015), more destructive inter-group competition (Halevy, Chou, Cohen, & Bornstein, 2010), more aggression (Greitemeyer & Sagioglou, 2017), or even more criminal behaviors (Metz & Burdina, 2018) to gain more wealth and status.…”

“…Aside from the finding that inequality affects individuals' health and well-being, economic inequality is also associated with a number of problems at the societal level. For instance, greater inequality has been suggested to slow down economic growth (United Nations, 2013), impede poverty reduction (possibly through impeding the effect of economic growth on reducing poverty; Ravallion, 2014), and it is often related to worse social mobility (Andrews & Leigh, 2009;Corak, 2013), less social cohesion (Ritzen & Woolcock, 2000;Van de Werfhorst & Salverda, 2012), less political participation (Solt, 2008(Solt, , 2010, lower levels of trust (Elgar, 2010;Twenge, Campbell, & Carter, 2014;Uslaner & Brown, 2005), lower levels of generosity (e.g., Côté et al, 2015), higher crime rate (Fajnzylber, Lederman, & Loayza, 2002a, 2002bKelly, 2000;Metz & Burdina, 2018;Whitworth, 2012), and more conflicts (Dorling, 2012;Ezcurra & Palacios, 2016). These phenomena could also explain why people feel more insecure and call for more guards to protect them in unequal societies (Bowles & Jayadev, 2014).…”

Impact of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic on property crimes in São Paulo: a Bayesian spatiotemporal modelling case study

“…Second, no causal inference is being made in the beta regression and, thus, the estimated fixed effects posterior distributions are only indicators of how the explanatory variables are related to the target. Finally, socioeconomic variables considered important crime determinants by criminological theory, such as inequality (Pridemore, 2011;Neil Metz, 2018), are omitted due to a lack of current data.…”

“…Poverty rate dropped from 12% in 2019 to 8% during the pandemic in Brazil with concomitant declines in extreme poverty and inequality (Menezes-Filho et al, 2021). Given that these cash transfers were heterogeneous in space and that poverty and inequality are important crime correlates (Kelly, 2000;Pridemore, 2011;Neil Metz, 2018), it can also be an important correlate to the impact estimates.…”