Using Increases in Criminal Deportees from the US to Estimate the Effect of Crime on Economic Growth and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Garfield O. Blake
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Garfield O. Blake: Department of Economics, Central Connecticut State University, P.O. Box 4010, New Britain, CT 06050-4010, USA

Laws, 2015, vol. 4, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: Previous empirical studies have uncovered little evidence that crime hinders development, possibly due to simultaneity problems. This paper uses the increase in criminal deportees from the US as an instrumental variable to identify the causal effect of crime on economic growth and development. An increase in the number of criminal deportees received by a country is shown to substantially increase that country’s homicide rate. Using panel data for a sample of 30 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries, I show that the increase in crime is becoming a major obstacle to growth and development in the region.

Keywords: criminal deportees; development; Homicides; instrumental variable; LAC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:4:y:2015:i:4:p:691-708:d:58367

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