The Criminal Costs of Markets: Do Market-Oriented Societies Suffer Higher Violence Rates?

• In Event: Population-Level Research on Homicide: US, International, and Cross-National Studies

Abstract

Poverty and inequality frequently covary with national homicide rates. Multiple theoretical traditions equate this with the vagaries of market-oriented societies. A similar proposition suggests institutional imbalance from market dominance over pro-social institutions results in higher crime. Classic theoretical claims and recent empirical findings, however, suggest market expansion reduces crime. Elias argued economic interconnectedness increases sensitivity to others and demands stable societies. Durkheim maintained division of labor and greater integration require a dynamic equilibrium that produces fewer offenses against property and the person, especially with concomitant development of a religion of humanity privileging sanctity of the individual. Recent studies found greater trade is associated with lower national homicide rates and that market-oriented societies are more averse to unethical behavior. We studied the association between market orientation and national homicide rates. We used 1990-2020 data, obtained homicide rates from WHO’s Mortality Database, employed Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World index to measure market orientation, controlled for common structural covariates, and employed pooled cross-sectional models with fixed effects to estimate effects. Contrary to popular discourse in criminology but consistent with the classic theoretical ideas and recent research outlined above, we found that as market orientation increases in a nation its homicide rate declines.

Authors

• William Alex Pridemore, University of Georgia

• Meghan L. Rogers, University of Iowa