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An analysis of the effect of public education expenditure on criminality in Brazil

Abstract

This study aims to analyze whether public spending on education can contribute to reducing the homicide rate and whether it is necessary to observe this result over a period of time. In this sense, socioeconomic data from the Brazilian states and a dynamic panel model (GMM-SYS) were used to highlight the difference in education expenditures per capita, in addition to the contemporary relationship. The results indicated a negative elasticity of approximately 0.1 in the first lag, that is, if education spending increased by 10%, the homicide rate would decrease by 1% in the following period, highlighting that investment in education could be a form of long-term public policy to reduce crime.

Keywords:
Crime; Economics of crime; Education; Public spending; GMM System

Instituto de Economia da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Publicações Rua Pitágoras, 353 - CEP 13083-857, Tel.: +55 19 3521-5708 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: publicie@unicamp.br