The Economics of Crime: Lessons For and From Latin America (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report)

Taking An Empirical Economics Perspective, This Volume Assesses The Causal Impacts Of Disadvantage On Youth Outcomes And How Policy Interventions Can Alleviate Those Impacts. Each Chapter Develops A Framework To Describe The Relationship Between Youth Disadvantages And Later Life Outcomes, Addressing Such Factors As Educational Opportunity, Health, Neighborhood Crime Rates, And Employment. This Book Documents The Serious Short-and Long-term Consequences Of Childhood Disadvantage And Provides Nuanced Evidence Of The Impact Of Public Policy Designed To Help Needy Children. This Volume Offers Comparative Analysis From Twelve Countries And Examines The Issue Of Age In The Labor Force. Contributors Analyze The Relationship Between Incentives To Retire And The Proportion Of Older Persons In The Workforce, The Effects That Reforming Social Security Would Have On The Employment Rates Of Older Workers, And How Extending Labor Force Participation Will Affect Program Costs. Dispelling The Myth That Employingolder Workers Takes Jobs Away From The Young, This Timely Volume Challenges A Raft Of Existing Assumptions About The Relationship Between Old And Young People In The Workforce. In Less Than Three Decades, China Has Grown From Playing A Negligible Role In World Trade To Being One Of The World's Largest Exporters, A Substantial Importer Of Raw Materials, Intermediate Outputs, And Other Goods, And Both A Recipient And Source Of Foreign Investment. This Volume Undertakes An Empirical Investigation Of The Effects Of China's New Status, Providing Detailed Analyses Of The Microstructure Of Trade, The Macroeconomic Implications, Sector-level Issues, And Foreign Direct Investment. Careful Examination Of Micro Data In Light Of Established Economic Theories Clarifies A Number Of Misconceptions, Overturns Some Conventional Wisdom, And Documents Data Patterns That Enhance Our Understanding Of Issues Related To China's Trade.. Crime Rates In Latin America Are Among The Highest In The World, And In Several Countries They Have Steadily Risen Over The Past Two Decades, Making Crime The Primary Concern Of Many Citizens. Despite This Situation, There Has Been A Lack Of Systematic Effort To Study Crime In The Region Or The Effectiveness Of Policies Designed To Tackle It. This Book Contributes To The Current Debate On Causes And Solutions By Applying Lessons Learned From Recent Developments In The Economics Of Crime. The Economics Of Crime Addresses A Variety Of Topics, Including The Impact Of Mandatory Arrest Laws, Education In Prisons, And The Relationship Between Poverty And Crime. The Book Also Presents Research From Outside Latin America, Illustrating The Broad Range Of Approaches That Have Been Fruitful In Studying Crime In Developed Nations. The Economics Of Crime Will Be Vital For Researchers, Policy Makers, And Students Of Both Crime And Of Latin American Economic Policy.--book Jacket. Overview: Latin America Exceptionalism? -- Understanding High Crime Rates In Latin America: The Role Of Social And Policy Factors / Rodrigo R. Soares And Joana Naritomi ; Comment: Alejandro Gaviria -- The Economics Of Crime Meets Latin America. Capital Crimes: Kidnappings And Corporate Investment In Colombia / Rony Pshisva And Gustavo A. Suarez ; Comment: Juan Pantano -- The Cost Of Avoiding Crime: The Case Of Bogotá / Alejandro Gaviria ... [et Al.] ; Comment: Alfredo Canavese -- Do Conflicts Create Poverty Traps? Asset Losses And Recovery For Displaced Households In Colombia / Ana María Ibáñez And Andrés Moya ; Comment: Martín González Rozada -- Crime Distribution And Victim Behavior During A Crime Wave / Rafael Di Tella, Sebastián Galiani, And Ernesto Schargrodsky ; Comment: Lucas Ronconi -- Assessing São Pauloś Large Drop In Homicides: The Role Of Demography And Policy Interventions / João M P De Mello And Alexandre Schneider ; Comment: Lucas Llach -- The Quality Of Life In Prisons: Do Educational Programs Reduce In-prison Conflicts? / María Laura Alzúa, Catherine Rodriguez, And Edgar Villa ; Comment: Andrés Borenstein -- International Evidence. What Do Economists Know About Crime? / Angela K. Dills, Jeffrey A. Miron, And Garrett Summers ; Comment: Philip J. Cook -- Peaceable Kingdoms And War Zones: Preemption, Ballistics, And Murder In Newark / Brendan O'flaherty And Rajiv Sethi ; Comment: Guillermo Cruces -- Crime Displacement And Police Interventions: Evidence From London's Operation Theseus / Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin, And Robert Witt ; Comment: Catherine Rodriguez -- The Impact Of Incentives On Human Behavior: Can We Make It Disappear? The Case Of The Death Penalty / Naci Mocan And Kaj Gittings ; Comment: Lucía Quesada -- Does Arrest Deter Violence? Comparing Experimental And Nonexperimental Evidence On Mandatory Arrest Laws / Radha Iyengar ; Comment: Rafael Di Tella. Edited By Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Edwards, And Ernesto Schargrodsky. Papers Presented At The Conference Crime, Institutions, And Policies, Organized By The Inter American Seminar On Economics Of The National Bureau Of Economic Research And Laboratorio De Investigaciones Sobre Crimen, Instituciones Y Políticas Of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Held In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 29-30, 2007. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Overview: Latin America exceptionalism? -- Understanding high crime rates in Latin America: the role of social and policy factors / Rodrigo R. Soares and Joana Naritomi ; comment: Alejandro Gaviria -- The economics of crime meets Latin America. Capital crimes: kidnappings and corporate investment in Colombia / Rony Pshisva and Gustavo A. Suarez ; comment: Juan Pantano -- The cost of avoiding crime: the case of Bogotá / Alejandro Gaviria, Carlos Medina, Leonardo Morales, and Jairo Núñez ; comment: Alfredo Canavese -- Do conflicts create poverty traps? : asset losses and recovery for displaced households in Colombia / Ana María Ibáñez and Andrés Moya ; comment: Martín González Rozada -- Crime distribution and victim behavior during a crime wave / Rafael Di Tella, Sebastián Galiani, and Ernesto Schargrodsky ; comment: Lucas Ronconi -- Assessing São Pauloś large drop in homicides: the role of demography and policy interventions / João M P de Mello and Alexandre Schneider ; comment: Lucas Llach -- The quality of life in prisons: do educational programs reduce in-prison conflicts? / María Laura Alzúa, Catherine Rodriguez, and Edgar Villa ; comment: Andrés Borenstein -- International evidence. What do economists know about crime? / Angela K. Dills, Jeffrey A. Miron, and Garrett Summers ; comment: Philip J. Cook -- Peaceable kingdoms and war zones: preemption, ballistics and murder in Newark / Brendan O'Flaherty and Rajiv Sethi ; comment: Guillermo Cruces -- Crime displacement and police interventions: evidence from London's "operation theseus" / Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin, and Robert Witt ; comment: Catherine Rodriguez -- The impact of incentives on human behavior: can we make it disappear? the case of the death penalty / Naci Mocan and Kaj Gittings ; comment: Lucía Quesada -- Does arrest deter violence? comparing experimental and non-experimental evidence on mandatory arrest laws / Radha Iyengar ; comment: Rafael Di Tella University Of Chicago Press Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 I. Overview: Latin American Exceptionalism? 30 1. Understanding High Crime Rates in Latin America: The Role of Social and Policy Factors 32 II. The Economics of Crime Meets Latin America 74 2. Capital Crimes: Kidnappings and Corporate Investment in Colombia 76 3. The Cost of Avoiding Crime: The Case of Bogotá 114 4. Do Conflicts Create Poverty Traps? Asset Losses and Recovery for Displaced Households in Colombia 150 5. Crime Distribution and Victim Behavior during a Crime Wave 188 6. Assessing São Paulo’s Large Drop in Homicides: The Role of Demography and Policy Interventions 220 7. The Quality of Life in Prisons: Do Educational Programs Reduce In-Prison Conflicts? 252 III. International Evidence 280 8. What Do Economists Know about Crime? 282 9. Peaceable Kingdoms and War Zones: Preemption, Ballistics, and Murder in Newark 318 10. Crime Displacement and Police Interventions: Evidence from London’s “Operation Theseus” 372 11. The Impact of Incentives on Human Behavior: Can We Make It Disappear? The Case of the Death Penalty 392 12. Does Arrest Deter Violence? Comparing Experimental and Nonexperimental Evidence on Mandatory Arrest Laws 434 Contributors 470 Author Index 474 Subject Index 480 0226153746,9780226153742 Crime rates in Latin America are among the highest in the world, creating climates of fear and lawlessness in several countries. Despite this situation, there has been a lack of systematic effort to study crime in the region or the effectiveness of policies designed to tackle it. The Economics of Crime is a powerful corrective to this academic blind spot and makes an important contribution to the current debate on causes and solutions by applying lessons learned from recent developments in the economics of crime. The Economics of Crime addresses a variety of topics, including the impact of kidnappings on investment, mandatory arrest laws, education in prisons, and the relationship between poverty and crime. Utilizining research from within and without Latin America, this book illustrates the broad range of approaches that have been efficacious in studying crime in both developing and developed nations. The Economics of Crime is a vital text for researchers, policymakers, and students of both crime and of Latin American economic policy. This title presents a survey of the crime problem in Latin America, which takes a very broad and appropriately reductionist approach to analyse the determinants of the high crime levels, focusing on the negative social conditions in the region, including inequality and poverty, and poor policy design, such as relatively low police presence. The chapters illustrate three channels through which crime might generate poverty, that is, by reducing investment, by introducing assets losses, and by reducing the value of assets remaining in the control of households