This paper examines the effects of local inequality on property and violent crime in South Africa. The findings are consistent with economic theories relating inequality to property crime and also with sociological theories that imply that inequality leads to crime in general. Burglary rates are 20-30% higher in police station jurisdictions that are the wealthiest among their neighbors, suggesting that criminals travel to neighborhoods where the expected returns from burglary are highest. Finally, there is no evidence that inequality between racial groups fosters interpersonal conflict at the local level.
Bibliography: . Policy Research Working Paper 2925. World Bank, Development Research Group, Washington, D.C., November 2002.
