The Cost of Crime and Violence in Five Latin American Countries

This paper provides evidence on the costs imposed by crime and violence in five Latin American countries: Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Paraguay and Uruguay. Crime and violence stand out as one of the major social challenges to be dealt with in Latin America. However, the incidence of crime (and thus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal on criminal policy and research 2016-12, Vol.22 (4), p.689-711
Main Authors: Aboal, Diego, Lanzilotta, Bibiana, Dominguez, Magdalena, Vairo, Maren
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Costs
Crime
Crime prevention
Criminal statistics
Criminality
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Evidence
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Information sources
Latin America
Law and Criminology
Murders & murder attempts
Political Science
Socioeconomic factors
Studies
Violence
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Summary:This paper provides evidence on the costs imposed by crime and violence in five Latin American countries: Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Paraguay and Uruguay. Crime and violence stand out as one of the major social challenges to be dealt with in Latin America. However, the incidence of crime (and thus its social and economic impact) varies among countries. Based on a common theoretical framework across all five countries, we use a costs-accounting methodology and find that the cost of criminality varies from a striking 10.5 % of GDP in Honduras to a moderate 2.5 % in Costa Rica. Also, by quantifying the different components of the cost equation separately, we provide insight on which felonies are more costly and which agents are burdened most heavily by these costs.
ISSN:0928-1371
1572-9869
DOI:10.1007/s10610-015-9295-5