Crime, Justice, and Growth in South Africa: Toward a Plausible Contribution from Criminal Justice to Economic Growth
John F. Kennedy School of Government Working Paper No. RWP06-038
Center for International Development Working Paper No. 131
20 Pages Posted: 11 Oct 2006
Date Written: September 2006
Abstract
Crime in South Africa is high and widely believed to restrain investment. Nevertheless, both the mechanisms through which crime constrains growth and the actions that might be taken to loosen its grip are poorly understood. In light of the limited knowledge in the field and the limited capacity of criminal justice institutions, this paper proposes focusing on two issues: (1) the costs of crime to business, especially household-based enterprises in low-income settlements, and (2) the perception of violent crime. In both cases, the paper proposes a cyclical process of iterative innovation in which government seeks to solve narrowly circumscribed crime problems, and then leverages each success to generate wider hope and confidence in the criminal justice system.
Keywords: Crime and Criminal Justice, International Development
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space
By J. Vernon Henderson, Adam Storeygard, ...
-
Determinants of City Growth in Brazil
By Daniel Da Mata, Uwe Deichmann, ...
-
Determinants of City Growth in Brazil
By Daniel Da Mata, Uwe Deichmann, ...
-
Examining the Growth Patterns of Brazilian Cities
By Daniel Da Mata, Uwe Deichmann, ...
-
Regional Subsidies and Industrial Prospects of Lagging Regions
By Alexandre Carvalho, Somik V. Lall, ...
-
Regional Subsidies and Industrial Prospects of Lagging Regions
By Somik V. Lall and Christopher Timmins
-
By Leo Feler and J. Vernon Henderson
-
Economic Integration in the Lower Congo Region: Opening the Kinshasa-Brazzaville Bottleneck
By Marius Brülhart and Mombert Hoppe