EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Does Wealth Decrease Victimization in Property Crime?: Evidence from Thailand

Yuzhe Teng ()
Additional contact information
Yuzhe Teng: Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, Postal: 603-8344 Kyoto, Japan

Asian Journal of Applied Economics/ Applied Economics Journal, 2025, vol. 32, issue 1, 15-29

Abstract: The relationship between wealth and property crime victimization remains debated in criminological research. This study examines this relationship using data from Thailand’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted in 2019 and 2022. While the MICS wealth index serves as the primary measure, potential endogeneity issues arise from unobserved factors, such as security investments in wealthier areas. To address this, the study employs an instrumental variable Probit (IV-Probit) model. The results reveal a negative association between wealth and property crime victimization in Thailand, contradicting conventional economic theory, which assumes wealthier individuals are more attractive crime targets. This unexpected finding suggests that enhanced security measures among affluent households may effectively deter criminal activity. The study contributes to the literature by overcoming methodological limitations of past research and providing evidence-based insights for targeted crime prevention policies. Policymakers may consider strengthening security infrastructure in lower-income areas to mitigate disparities in victimization risk.

Keywords: crime victimization; property crime; wealth; Thailand; instrumental variable Probit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C36 K40 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/AEJ/article/view/276464 Full text (application/pdf)
Asian Journal of Applied Economics/ Applied Economics Journal

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:apecjn:0108

Access Statistics for this article

Asian Journal of Applied Economics/ Applied Economics Journal is currently edited by Waleerat Suphannachart

More articles in Asian Journal of Applied Economics/ Applied Economics Journal from Kasetsart University, Faculty of Economics, Center for Applied Economic Research Center for Applied Economics Research, Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Arannee Tongjankaew ().

 
Page updated 2025-04-28
Handle: RePEc:ris:apecjn:0108