Nexus of Crime Rate, Misery Index and Urbanization in Pakistan

The co-existence of crime rate, misery index, and urbanization has become an emerging challenge across the developing globe. The present research primarily explores the economic and demographic factors affecting the crime rate in the country and identifies the co-incidence of the crime rate, misery index, and urbanization in Pakistan. The study is based on the annual time series data to be collected through various secondary sources from 1973 to 2020. ARDL Bound testing technique has been used to determine the short-run and long-run association among the variables. The findings of the study exhibit the long-run relationship connected with crime rate, misery index, and urbanization. The results suggest that the increasing misery index and widening urbanization largely contribute to magnifying the crimes in Pakistan. The government may take suitable measures to improve the miserable situation and demotivate the urbanization factor; therefore, the crime rate may decline in the country.