The Impact of Social Capital on Crime: Evidence from the Netherlands

İbrahim Semih Akçomak () and Bas ter Weel

No 42, UNU-MERIT Working Paper Series from United Nations University, Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology

Abstract: This paper investigates the relation between social capital and crime. The analysis contributes to explaining why crime is so heterogeneous across space. By employing current and historical data for Dutch municipalities and by providing novel indicators to measure social capital, we find a link between social capital and crime. Our results suggest that higher levels of social capital are associated with lower crime rates and that municipalities’ historical states in terms of population heterogeneity, religiosity and education affect current levels of social capital. Social capital indicators explain about 10 percent of the observed variance in crime. It is also shown why some social capital indicators are more useful than others in a robustness analysis.

Keywords: Social capital; Crime; the Netherlands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 K42 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law, nep-soc and nep-ure
Date: 2008
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of Social Capital on Crime: Evidence from the Netherlands (2008)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dgr:unumer:2008042

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