Political Science Research and Methods
Can political alignment reduce crime? Evidence from Chile
Resumen
Research has shown that presidents tend to benefit local level copartisans when distributing resources, which can improve the provision of public goods, such as security. Considering that fear of crime is among the main concerns of citizens worldwide, we examine whether alignment affects criminality.
Drawing on rich administrative data from Chile and a regression discontinuity design in close electoral races, we study the impact of alignment on a broad set of crimes against the person and property-related. We show that aligned municipalities experience a significant reduction in crimes that both affect property and occur in public. As a potential mechanism, we find that aligned municipalities receive more projects to improve urban infrastructure, thus making public spaces less vulnerable to crime.
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Linea de investigación
Violencia Criminal e Inseguridad Urbana
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Fecha
12/09/2022
- Revista
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Palabras Claves
Crime, distributive politics, political alignment
- DOI
- Autor/a principal Giancarlo Visconti