Does sexual strategies theory help explain high violent crime in South Africa?

Abstract

In sexual strategies theory (SST), risky behaviour such as crime is the outcome of males' sexual reproduction strategies. Using panel data from South Africa, one of the countries with the highest crime rates in the world, a random-effects GLS regression finds support for the SST as an explanation for violent crime.

Notes

¹ The objective of females' sexual strategies is to obtain good genes and high levels of parental investment for their offspring in order to optimize her reproductive success. Depending on the environment, a trade-off may or may not exist. When good genes are favoured, a short-term mating strategy is said to obtain, and when parental investment by the male is favoured, a long-term strategy is said to obtain.

² Although basic optimization behaviour in standard economics models could generate the same prediction in such as case, standard economic models would take the underlying male and female preferences that underlie short-and-long term sexual strategies as given, whilst in the EP approach the way in which these preferences could determine subsequent sexual strategies and behaviours provide an important perspective.