Premium
THE EFFECT OF WELFARE PROGRAMS ON CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR: A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
Author(s) -
ZHANG JUNSEN
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1997.tb01899.x
Subject(s) - welfare , economics , property crime , cash , payment , medicaid , criminal behavior , public economics , property (philosophy) , set (abstract data type) , demographic economics , actuarial science , violent crime , psychology , macroeconomics , criminology , finance , economic growth , health care , philosophy , epistemology , computer science , market economy , programming language
A simple economic model of criminal behavior shows that welfare payments will reduce the time allocated to illegal activities under risk aversion and other reasonable assumptions. This theoretical prediction is confirmed by the empirical findings: using a set of cross‐sectional U.S. state data for 1987, it is found that cash or in‐kind welfare programs have a negative and often significant effect on property crime. More general programs such as public housing seem to have a larger effect than those aimed primarily at women (AFDC). Medicaid and school lunch programs apparently have little effect on property crime.