A Study on the Effect of Income Inequality and Poverty on Crime Rates

Year 2024, Volume: 1 Issue: 80, 127 - 158, 24.10.2024

Erhan Gülcan Fatma Yeşilkaya

https://doi.org/10.54752/ct.1421769

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Income inequality and poverty are accepted as important phenomena that are affected by the socio-economic conditions of every country, whether developed or developing, and also affect these conditions. In addition, although income inequality and poverty vary according to countries, they are closely related to factors such as crime, which are related to socio-economic, cultural, political and legal structures. Crime is seen as an important phenomenon that can lead to many individual, social and economic instabilities. In this context, it is thought that the phenomenon of crime should be examined with various social and economic indicators. In this respect, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between poverty and income inequality, which is accepted by the literature that may affect the rate of criminality and crime rates, within the scope of country groups with low- and high-income inequality. In this study, two models are constructed based on country groups and the relationship between the crime rate and poverty and income inequality is investigated by panel data analysis. According to the findings of the study, the Gini coefficient is significant and negatively correlated with the crime rate only in countries with low inequality. The poverty rate, on the other hand, is significant and positively correlated with the crime rates, in other words, it increases the crime rate in countries with both low and high inequality

Keywords

income inequality, poverty, crime, panel data analysis.

Gelir Eşitsizliği ve Yoksulluğun Suçluluk Oranına Etkisine Yönelik Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Gelir eşitsizliği ve yoksulluk, ister gelişmiş isterse gelişmekte olsun her ülkenin içinde bulunduğu sosyo-ekonomik koşullardan etkilenen, aynı zamanda bu koşulları etkileyen önemli olgular olarak kabul edilmektedir. Ayrıca, gelir eşitsizliği ve yoksulluk ülkelere göre değişkenlik göstermekle birlikte, sosyo-ekonomik, kültürel, siyasal ve hukuksal yapılarla bağı olan suç ile de yakından ilişkilidir. Suç bireysel, toplumsal ve ekonomik pek çok istikrarsızlığa yol açabilecek önemli bir olgudur. Bu bağlamda suç olgusunun çeşitli sosyal ve ekonomik göstergelerle incelenmesi gerektiği düşünülmektedir. Bu doğrultuda çalışmanın amacı, düşük ve yüksek gelir eşitsizliğinin gerçekleştiği ülke grupları kapsamında, suçluluk oranı ile yoksulluk ve gelir eşitsizliği arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir. Çalışmada ülke grupları bazında iki model kurgulanmış ve panel veri analizi yöntemiyle suçluluk oranı ile yoksulluk ve gelir eşitsizliği ilişkisi araştırılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında elde edilen bulgulara göre; gelir eşitsizliği için kullanılan Gini katsayısı yalnızca düşük eşitsizliğin gerçekleştiği ülkelerde anlamlı ve suç oranını azaltıcı yönde bir sonuç vermektedir. Yoksulluk oranı ise hem düşük hem de yüksek eşitsizliğin olduğu ülkelerde istatistiki olarak anlamlı katsayılar elde edilmesine imkan vermektedir. Ekonometrik modelde yoksulluk oranının suçluluk oranı ile anlamlı ve pozitif yönlü bir ilişkisi olduğu gözlenmektedir.

Keywords

gelir eşitsizliği, yoksulluk, suç, panel veri analizi.

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