Identifying the Link between Unemployment and Crime in the Philippines

This study investigates the relationship between unemployment and crime in the Philippines. It concludes that there is weak support for the negative (opportunity effect) relationship between unemployment and crime. The use of national‐level time series data is probably an inappropriate way to test the unemployment‐crime relationship because unemployment and crime variables have been demonstrated to exhibit a tremendous degree of variability at the local level.

Notes

The author would like to thank Gen. Jefferson Soriano of the Philippine National Police for providing data on crime statistics, Marife Alcantara and Michelle Flores for assistance in data gathering, and Evelyn Ulpindo for assistance in data processing. Financial support from University of the Philippines Creative and Research Scholarship Program is gratefully acknowledged. The views presented here are those of the author, and do not represent the opinions or policies of any individual or organization. Any errors are the author's

Contact information: Epictetus E. Patalinghug, Professor of Economics and Management, College of Business Administration, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101. Phone: [phone] to 76. Fax: [phone]. E‐mail: [email protected].