Unemployment and the specialization of criminal activity: A neighborhood analysis

- We investigate unemployment and crime specialization.
- We use the location quotient instead of crime rates.
- The Cantor and Land (1985) model supports crime specialization.
- Crime specialization is better predicted for property crime.

PurposeTest the Cantor and Land (1985) model of unemployment on crime at the neighborhood level considering crime specialization.MethodsA panel of 87 census tracts in Vancouver, Canada for the years 1991, 1996, and 2001 is used in a decomposition model. We also control for a large number of routine activity and social disorganization theory variables.ResultsUnemployment has an impact on crime specialization, but this impact varies in magnitude and by crime type. Strong support for the Cantor and Land (1985) model is found in the context of crime specialization.ConclusionsThe Cantor and Land (1985) is robust to an alternative measure of criminal activity. The use of alternative measures provides insight into the subtleties of the relationship between unemployment and crime.