Crime and Consumerism in Puerto Rico

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

The crime rate in Puerto Rico has consistently increased as the economy has worsened and as people have continued to leave in search of better professional opportunities. While productive establishments have deteriorated, the number of consumerist establishments such as retail stores and shopping malls has substantively grown in recent years. In this research, I examine the relationship between the number of retail establishments and the frequency of criminal activity in Puerto Rico at the municipality-level. I explore the possibility that, in municipalities where people label the ownership of material belongings as the main criteria to determine social status, people will more likely to commit criminal activity to obtain these belongings and to attain status. Using negative binomial regression analysis on a novel combined dataset, the results indicate that municipalities with higher consumerist establishments and culture increase crime rates not only for property crimes but also for some type of the violent crimes. Implications for the criminological literature on the importance of consumerism in explaining crime rate are discussed.

Author

• Monica Pascual, Cornell University