Individual Perceptions of Local Crime Risk

Martin Salm and Ben Vollaard

No 8677, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We provide evidence that perceptions of crime risk are severely biased for many years after a move to a new neighborhood. Based on four successive waves of a large crime survey, matched with administrative records on household relocations, we find that the longer an individual lives in a neighborhood, the higher their perception of the crime rate in the neighborhood. This finding holds irrespective of whether the move is from a relatively low-crime to a relatively high-crime area or vice versa. We find that avoidance behavior adjusts in line with the observed changes in beliefs.

Keywords: heuristic; victimization; crime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 K14 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2014-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-law and nep-ure
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Published - revised version published as 'The dynamics of crime risk perceptions' in: American Law and Economics Review, 2021, 23 (2), 520 - 561

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Related works:
Working Paper: Individual Perceptions of Local Crime Risk (2014)
Working Paper: Individual Perceptions of Local Crime Risk (2014)
Working Paper: Individual Perceptions of Local Crime Risk (2014)
Working Paper: Individual Perceptions of Local Crime Risk (2014)
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