American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
The Impact of Crime and Insecurity on Trust in Democracy and Institutions
American Economic Review
vol. 103,
no. 3, May 2013
(pp. 284–88)
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of crime and insecurity on support for and satisfaction with democracy and trust in institutions. We use survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) for Colombia during the 2004-2010 period. We find that perceptions of insecurity, crime victimization, being asked for a bribe and being affected by the armed conflict have a negative significant effect on satisfaction with democracy and trust in public institutions. Our findings show an important indirect channel through which crime can hinder development because distrust in institutions is associated with lower levels of social capital.Citation
Blanco, Luisa, and Isabel Ruiz. 2013. "The Impact of Crime and Insecurity on Trust in Democracy and Institutions." American Economic Review, 103 (3): 284–88. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.284Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D02 Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification