Unemployment, business cycles, crime, and the Canadian provinces

AbstractPurpose he Cantor and Land (1985) model using multiple measures of the state of the economy. s l data set of the 10 Canadian provinces, 1981 – 2009, is analyzed using a hybrid modeling approach called a decomposition model. Rather than one economy-related model, four are included in the analysis: gross provincial product, gross provincial product per capita, unemployment rate, and low income. s onomy-related variables matter for property and violent crime, but the sign and magnitude of the estimated parameters vary based on context. sions lationship between the economy and crime is complex. Only including one economy-related variable appears to result in omitted variable bias. As such, any evaluation of the relationship between the economy and crime must consider multiple measures of the economy.