Crime induced poverty traps

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mehlum, H; Moene, K; Torvik, R
• 署名单位: University of Oslo; Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2004.05.002
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 325-340
• 关键词: weak property rights; crime; multiple equilibria; economic reform; GROWTH

摘要

Poverty makes thieves and thieves hamper economic growth. We study these linkages in a model of modem sector job creation. Job creation has two effects. Higher labor demand tends to lower crime while higher output gives more to steal, tending to increase crime. At low levels of modernization the second effect dominates and, as a consequence, the model has decreasing returns to scale. At higher levels of modernization there is increasing returns to scale due to declining crime. The economy may end up in a poverty trap with high crime and low production or obtain full modernization with low crime rates. The danger of ending up in a poverty trap has implications for economic policies. We show, for instance, that a reform, intended to improve efficiency, may throw the economy into a vicious circle of increasing crime and stagnation if implemented too fast. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.