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Costs of Victimization

Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

This chapter surveys existing research about the causes and consequences of criminal victimization. It emphasizes the empirical challenges faced by researchers in studying such questions and highlights studies that put forth research designs that can credibly disentangle correlation from causation. This chapter is organized into three sections. First, it reviews the correlates and/or causes of victimization, and highlights the role of alcohol, exposure, and precautionary behavior. The second part discusses the impact of direct exposure to victimization on individual outcomes, including physical health, mental health and well-being, labor market outcomes, changes in behavior, and the victim-offender overlap. Finally, the third part highlights the consequences of indirect exposure to crime (i.e., not being a victim oneself) in the neighborhood and family. An overarching theme is that this is a young literature that has recently gained momentum in overcoming the limited availability of data capable of answering these important questions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful for funding of this research by Vetenskapsrådet (project number 2017-01900). We also thank Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius stiftelse samt Tor Browaldhs stiftelse (project number P2017-0089:1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Markets & Public Policy, Reinhard Selten Institut, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Anna Bindler

  2. Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Anna Bindler & Randi Hjalmarsson

  3. Department of Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Nadine Ketel

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  1. Anna Bindler
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Correspondence to Randi Hjalmarsson .

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  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

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  1. Department of Public Administration and Policy Department of Public Administration and Policy, American University, Washington, DC, USA

    Dave Marcotte

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Bindler, A., Ketel, N., Hjalmarsson, R. (2020). Costs of Victimization. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_140-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_140-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Costs of Victimization
    Published:
    28 July 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_140-2

  2. Original

    Costs of Victimization
    Published:
    14 July 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_140-1

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