What is the relationship between unemployment and rape? Evidence from a panel of European regions

Caruso, Raul (2014): What is the relationship between unemployment and rape? Evidence from a panel of European regions.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between unemployment and rape in a panel of European regions. In particular, this paper is intended to test whether an ‘opportunity perspective’ holds for rape. The ‘opportunity perspective’ interprets the level of unemployment as an indicator of ‘social inactivity’, so that a negative relationship between violent crime and unemployment is predicted. Results show that rape and unemployment are positively associated so not confirming the opportunity perspective. Results are robust using alternative dependent variables, namely (i) the count of rape; (ii) the rape rate per 100,000 people.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: rape, sexual assault, violent crime, opportunity perspective, unemployment, youth unemployment, intimate and spousal violence.
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I29 - Other; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J12 - Marriage ; Marital Dissolution ; Family Structure ; Domestic Abuse; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J18 - Public Policy; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search; K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior > K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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