Unemployment and Right-wing Extremist Crime

Arbeitspapier

It is frequently argued that unemployment plays a crucial role for the occurrence of right- wing extremist crimes. We empirically test this hypothesis using data from Germany. We find that right-wing criminal activities occur more frequently when unemployment is high. The big difference in right-wing crime between East and West German states can mostly be attributed to differences in unemployment. This finding reinforces the importance of unemployment as an explanatory factor for right-wing crime and questions explanations based solely on the different socialization in former communist East Germany and the liberal West German states.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: NRN Working Paper, NRN: The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State ; No. 0916

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies: Other ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
• Subject: Hate crime ; right-wing extremism ; unemployment ; cost of unemployment

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Falk, Armin ; Kuhn, Andreas ; Zweimüller, Josef
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Johannes Kepler University Linz, NRN - The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State
• (where): Linz
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/115025
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET