SEMINAIRE DE RECHERCHE EN ECONOMIE - GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne : Tanguy Van Ypersele

Tanguy van Ypersele, GREQUAM, Université Aix-Marseille, présentera un séminaire intitulé : Property crime and private protection in cities.

Thème de recherche / Main topics : Économie internationale et géographique ; Économie publique.

Résumé / abstract  : In Canada, rich neighborhoods are less exposed to property crime, there is no correlation between income and victimization, rich households are more victim- ized than their neighbors, and rich households and neighborhoods invest more in protection. We provide a theory consistent with these facts. Criminals in a city choose a neighborhood and pay a search cost to compare potential victims, whereas households invest in self-protection. As criminals’return to search increases with neighborhood wealth, households in rich neighborhoods are more likely to enter a rat race to ever greater protection that drives criminals towards poorer areas. A calibration of our model broadly reproduces the Canadian pattern of victimization and protection by household and neighborhood income.

Co-authors : Bruno Decreuse and Steeve Mongrain

Tanguy van Ypersele

Property crime and private protection in cities