Effects of Economic and Educational Conditions on Crime Rates

This paper investigates which factors influence the decision to commit different types of crimes - thefts, robberies, and violent crimes - and the choice of location for these infractions. For this purpose, educational and socioeconomic data were used for over 100 neighborhoods in the city of Rio de Janeiro from 2013 to 2018, in addition to microdata regarding crime reports and arrests made in such city and period. Furthermore, spatial regressions at the neighborhood level and logistic regressions at the individual level were used to identify how educational and economic conditions in a neighborhood and its surroundings affect crime. Thus, the analyzes reveal that commercial districts tend to attract different types of crime - in particular, theft and violent crime - while high levels of poverty contribute to the emergence of robbers but reduce the occurrence of this type of crime in the location. Furthermore, the rise in burglary in the vicinity of a neighborhood significantly increases its own burglary rate.