Inequality, crime and private protection

Alejandro Corvalan and Matteo Pazzona ()

Economics Letters, 2022, vol. 210, issue C

Abstract: There is a consensus that inequality increases the supply of crime. As disparity in income grows within a society, the incentives for low-income individuals to engage in criminal activities also increase. However, in a context of high inequality, better-off individuals invest in deterring those who want to appropriate their resources. We examine this twofold effect of inequality in an equilibrium model of crime and private protection. We show that inequality unambiguously increases investment in private protection, but the relationship between inequality and crime is ambiguous, depending on how protection responds to private investment.

Keywords: Inequality; Crime; Private protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:210:y:2022:i:c:s0165176521004432

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.110184

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