Abstract

Prior research has examined the effects of social welfare on levels of crime in the U.S. The emphasis has been on how governmental support in the form of social spending may influence crime levels because it serves as a mechanism to lessen the impact of adverse financial circumstances that may stimulate criminal behavior. This study builds on prior research by assessing the impact of another mechanism that affects the distribution of economic resources: the structure of the tax system. Specifically, we incorporate the “Suits Index,” a novel measure of the progressivity of the tax system. Our analysis examines the effects of changes in the Suits Index on changes in robbery and burglary rates using data for the 50 U.S. states between 1995 and 2017. Results indicate that movement towards greater progressivity in the tax structure was associated with decreases in robbery and burglary rates, net of changes in social spending.

摘要

先前的研究已经检查了社会福利对美国犯罪水平的影响 重点是政府以社会支出形式提供的支持如何影响犯罪水平，因为它可以作为一种机制来减轻不利财务环境的影响，这可能刺激犯罪行为。本研究建立在先前研究的基础上，通过评估影响经济资源分配的另一种机制的影响：税收制度的结构。具体来说，我们纳入了“诉讼指数”，这是一种衡量税收制度累进性的新方法。我们的分析使用 1995 年至 2017 年间美国 50 个州的数据，检验了 Suits Index 变化对抢劫和入室盗窃率变化的影响。