Ethnic fragmentation and police spending

Ajilore, Olugbenga and Smith, John (2010): Ethnic fragmentation and police spending.

Abstract

Using a Two-Stage Least Squares procedure, we estimate the relationship between ethnic fragmentation and police spending using a cross-section of United States counties. Our results show that, when controlling for community characteristics and accounting for simultaneity bias, ethnic fragmentation is positively related to police spending. Our paper contributes to the understanding of the stylized fact that public spending on police increased over a period in which the incidence of crime decreased.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: ethnic fragmentation, police spending, police, crime, fragmentation
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H76 - State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants ; Non-labor Discrimination

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