题目：The Influence of Fiscal Fragmentation on the Spatial Pattern of Crime Rates in the United States

时间：2016年6月12日  星期日     12:00 – 13:30

地点：明德主楼714

报告人：王睿新

摘要：One of the most striking features of crime statistics in the United States is the disparities in crime rates among neighboring jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions have very high crime rates; whereas, nearby jurisdictions have very low ones. We examine the role of fiscal fragmentation in generating such patterns in the data. Fiscal fragmentation gives rise to three causal mechanisms which help shape the spatial pattern of crime: interjurisdictional competition, interjurisdictional spillovers, and Tiebout sorting. Using county-level panel data for the United States, we estimate the impact of fiscal decentralization on the spatial distribution of crime rates. To do so, we derive a Maximum Likelihood estimator with a multiplicative spatial interaction term. This estimator allows us to identify the three hypothesized mechanisms that shape the spatial pattern of crime. We find strong empirical support for the hypothesis that fiscal fragmentation influences the spatial pattern of crime in the United States.

报告人简介：王睿新，香港浸会大学经济学系研究助理教授，荷兰蒂尔堡大学经济学博士，主要从事发展经济学和公共经济学方面的研究。