Data and code for: Fighting Crime in Lawless Areas: Evidence from Slums in Rio de Janeiro

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Christophe Bellégo, CREST, ENSAE and Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 5 avenue Le Chatelier, 91120 Palaiseau, France; Joeffrey Drouard, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS, CREM - UMR6211, 7 Place Hoche, 35000 Rennes

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Figure4a_Assault.pdf	application/pdf	234.7 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_Extortion.pdf	application/pdf	243.3 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_Murder.pdf	application/pdf	237.1 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_PoliceAction.pdf	application/pdf	236.3 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_PoliceKill.pdf	application/pdf	237 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_Rape.pdf	application/pdf	238.1 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_Robbery.pdf	application/pdf	236.3 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_Theft.pdf	application/pdf	234.5 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_Threat.pdf	application/pdf	235.2 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM
Figure4a_TotalEvent.pdf	application/pdf	233.3 KB	02/23/2023 06:18:AM

Project Description

Summary: We use Rio de Janeiro’s slum pacification program initiated in 2008 to analyze the effect of policies fighting crime in lawless areas. We correct the bias from the unobserved rise in crime reporting via the use of a proxy variable and bounded variation assumptions. We find that the program reduced the murder and robbery rates, but strongly increased the assault and threat rates. We explain these results by providing evidence that increased enforcement weakened the security service gangs provide on their turf, and may incentivize criminals to switch from serious to less-serious crimes.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Crime; law enforcement; Drug gangs; Proxy variable; reporting rate; Brazil

JEL Classification:
      D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
      H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
      K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

Geographic Coverage: Brazil

Universe: Crime data in Rio de Janeiro

Data Type(s): administrative records data; census/enumeration data; geographic information system (GIS) data

Methodology

Data Source:

Instituto de Seguranca Pública [Institute that is in charge of recording crime data in the State of Rio de Janeiro]

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]

Portal de dados abertos da Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro [Open data portal of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro]

Ministério da Saúde - DATASUS/SIM [Brazilian Health Ministry]

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Related Publications

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Published Versions

V1 [2024-01-19]

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