Investor and Neighborhood Race on the Relationship Between Mortgage Investment and Neighborhood Crime

• In Event: Multidimensional Approaches to Studying Crime and the Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Community Characteristics

Abstract

Research has shown that investing in communities through mortgage loans, public grants, or renovation loans is associated with lower crime. This may particularly be the case in disadvantaged or minority-dominated neighborhoods where the economic benefits tend to go further. Less attention has been paid, however, to who is investing, and the positive impacts of external investment may go further when the homeowners’ characteristics align with the community, as their social connections, and consequently social control, may be stronger. Therefore, we investigate whether the race or ethnicity of homebuyers moderates the relationship between mortgage loan investment and crime. To do so, we use panel data on home purchase loans and violent and property crime incidents in Cleveland, OH, and assess whether increased investment through home loans affects crime over time. Importantly, we disaggregate by race or ethnicity of the home purchasers, and explore whether the investment-crime relationship is conditioned by characteristics of the buyers.

Authors

• Alyssa Chamberlain, Arizona State University

• Lyndsay Boggess, University of South Florida

• Thomas Stucky, Indiana University Indianapolis