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CRIME AND POVERTY: A SEARCH‐THEORETIC APPROACH*
Author(s) -
Huang ChienChieh,
Laing Derek,
Wang Ping
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.658
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1468-2354
pISSN - 0020-6598
DOI - 10.1111/j.0020-6598.2004.00291.x
Subject(s) - earnings , unemployment , poverty , economics , human capital , educational attainment , phenomenon , context (archaeology) , productivity , labour economics , demographic economics , economic growth , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , accounting
Numerous studies document that criminal activity is positively related to unemployment and negatively related to educational attainment levels within given communities. We study this phenomenon in the context of a search‐equilibrium model, in which agents choose between formal employment and pursuing crime‐related activities (theft). Prior to their “occupational choices,” agents undertake costly schooling, raising their productivity. Crime acts, in essence, as a tax on human capital by affecting the probability that a worker's earnings (possessions) are subsequently appropriated. There are multiple equilibria. High crime, low levels of educational attainment, long spells of unemployment, and poverty are correlated across them.