Who wants Safer Streets? Explaining Concern for Public Safety in Brazil

Arbeitspapier

Public action to prevent crime is often driven by concerns about public safety. But what generatesthose concerns ? ]s it crime, or something else ? Using survey data for Brazil, we find that thedesire for greater public safety has a positive own-income effect, but a negative neighborhood-income effect; living in a poor area increases concern for public safety at given own-income. Theown-income effect is nonlinear, such that inequality attenuates the aggregate concern for greatersafety. Education raises concern, and strongly so when neighbors are poorly educated. Controllingfor these factors, we identify a significant causal effect of lack of public safety on the desire forgreater safety.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper ; No. 01-093/2

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis ; Welfare Economics: General ; Public Goods
• Subject: Perceived public safety ; crime ; inequality ; Brazil ; Öffentliche Sicherheit ; Nachfrage ; Soziale Schicht ; Wohnstandort ; Brasilien

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Pradhan, Menno ; Ravallion, Martin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Tinbergen Institute
• (where): Amsterdam and Rotterdam
• (when): 2001

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/86038
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET