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Replication Data for: Inequality and Violent Crime: Evidence from Data on Robbery and Violent Theft, Journal of Peace Research, 42 (1), 2005, pp. 101-112

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Replication Data for: Inequality and Violent Crime: Evidence from Data on Robbery and Violent Theft, Journal of Peace Research, 42 (1), 2005, pp. 101-112
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6UAFWA
 
Creator Neumayer, Eric
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description This article argues that the link between income inequality and violent property crime might be
spurious, complementing a similar argument in prior analysis by the author on the determinants of
homicide. In contrast, Fajnzylber, Lederman & Loayza provide seemingly strong and robust evidence
that inequality causes a higher rate of both homicide and robbery/violent theft, even after controlling
for country-specific fixed effects. The results in the present article suggest that inequality is not a statistically
significant determinant, unless either country-specific effects are not controlled for or the sample
is artificially restricted to a small number of countries. The reason for the link between inequality and
violent property crime being spurious is that income inequality is likely to be strongly correlated with
country-specific fixed effects, such as cultural differences. A high degree of inequality might be socially
undesirable for any number of reasons, but that it causes violent crime is far from proven.
 
Subject Social Sciences
 
Contributor Neumayer, Eric