WHY IS THERE MORE CRIME IN CITIES?

WHY IS THERE MORE CRIME IN CITIES?

January 1996 | Edward L. Glaeser, Bruce Sacerdote
This paper examines the relationship between crime rates and city size, focusing on why cities have higher crime rates compared to smaller towns and rural areas. The authors use victimization data, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), and Uniform Crime Reports to analyze the factors contributing to this phenomenon. They find that approximately 27% of the higher crime rates in large cities can be attributed to higher pecuniary benefits for crime, while lower arrest probabilities and recognition rates explain at most 20%. The remaining 45-60% is due to observable characteristics of individuals and cities, such as family structure, social influences, and tastes. The paper decomposes the urban crime premium into four categories: higher pecuniary returns to crime, lower probability of arrest or recognition, exogenous characteristics affecting crime, and endogenous characteristics that both cause and are caused by urban status. The results suggest that the urban crime premium is associated with these characteristics, but the exact mechanisms linking these characteristics to urban living remain to be fully understood.This paper examines the relationship between crime rates and city size, focusing on why cities have higher crime rates compared to smaller towns and rural areas. The authors use victimization data, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), and Uniform Crime Reports to analyze the factors contributing to this phenomenon. They find that approximately 27% of the higher crime rates in large cities can be attributed to higher pecuniary benefits for crime, while lower arrest probabilities and recognition rates explain at most 20%. The remaining 45-60% is due to observable characteristics of individuals and cities, such as family structure, social influences, and tastes. The paper decomposes the urban crime premium into four categories: higher pecuniary returns to crime, lower probability of arrest or recognition, exogenous characteristics affecting crime, and endogenous characteristics that both cause and are caused by urban status. The results suggest that the urban crime premium is associated with these characteristics, but the exact mechanisms linking these characteristics to urban living remain to be fully understood.
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