Insecurity or Perception of Insecurity? Urban Crime and Dissatisfaction with Life: Evidence from the Case of Bogotá

Dario Romero

Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, 2014, vol. 20, issue 1, 169-208

Abstract: In recent literature, life satisfaction and welfare have been extensively studied. However, limited attention has been given to the effect that crime may have over these variables. Using the case of Bogotá this paper shows that urban crime rates, specially murder rate, have a positive impact on individuals’ life dissatisfaction. This effect seems to be mediated by the general perception of insecurity and not by the households’ victimization. In particular the perception of insecurity has a great impact on the unhappiness of those households that changed their perceptions because of the criminal activity. The conclusion of this paper is that it is necessary not only to reduce the crime rates, but also to generate good security perceptions.

Keywords: life satisfaction; happiness; crime; insecurity; JEL Codes: I31; C31; H76; J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1515/peps-2013-0057

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