American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Fighting Crime in Lawless Areas: Evidence from Slums in Rio de Janeiro
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 16,
no. 1, February 2024
(pp. 124–59)
Abstract
We use Rio de Janeiro's slum pacification program initiated in 2008 to analyze the effect of policies targeting crime in lawless areas. We correct the bias from the unobserved rise in crime reporting via the use of a proxy variable and bounded variation assumptions. We find that the program reduced the murder and robbery rates but strongly increased the assault and threat rates. We explain these results by providing evidence that increased enforcement weakened the security service that gangs provide on their turf, and may incentivize criminals to switch from serious to less serious crimes.Citation
Bellégo, Christophe, and Joeffrey Drouard. 2024. "Fighting Crime in Lawless Areas: Evidence from Slums in Rio de Janeiro." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 16 (1): 124–59. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200587Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- K14 Criminal Law
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
- O18 Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
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