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The Impact of Living‐Wage Ordinances on Urban Crime
Author(s) -
Fernandez Jose,
Holman Thomas,
Pepper John V.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
industrial relations: a journal of economy and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1468-232X
pISSN - 0019-8676
DOI - 10.1111/irel.12065
Subject(s) - unemployment , property crime , wage , economics , work (physics) , living wage , demographic economics , labour economics , violent crime , criminology , economic growth , sociology , mechanical engineering , engineering
We examine the impact of living wages on crime. Past research has found that living wages appear to increase unemployment while providing greater returns to market work. The impact on crime, therefore, is unclear. Using data on annual crime rates for large cities in the United States, we find that living‐wage ordinances are associated with notable reductions in property‐related crime and no discernable impact on nonproperty crimes.