Job Loss, Credit, and Crime in Colombia

Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Christian Posso Suarez () and Jorge Tamayo

American Economic Review: Insights, 2021, vol. 3, issue 1, 97-114

Abstract: We investigate the effects of job displacement, as a result of mass layoffs, on criminal arrests using a matched employer-employee crime dataset from Medellín, Colombia. Job displacement leads to immediate and persistent earnings losses and higher probability of arrest for both the displaced worker and family members. Leveraging a banking policy reform, we find that greater access to credit attenuates the criminal response to job loss. Impacts on arrests are pronounced for property crimes and among younger men for whom opportunities in criminal enterprises are prevalent. Taken together, our results are consistent with economic incentives contributing to criminal participation decisions after job losses.

JEL-codes: G21 G51 J63 K42 O16 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Working Paper: Job Loss, Credit and Crime in Colombia (2019)
Working Paper: Job Loss, Credit and Crime in Colombia (2019)
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DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20190547

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