THE EFFICACY OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC INCENTIVES IN THE SUPPLY OF CRIMES: A CROSS DISTRICT ANALYSIS OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study has purely designed to determine the impact of socio-economic incentives on the supply of crimes across the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Statistical tools have been used in the extraction and estimation of various socio-economic variables from the micro-data of PSLM and MICS of Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan. Applying ordinary least square (OLS), the result shows that poverty, population density, and income inequality have a positive and significant association with the rate of total crimes across districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The unemployment rate has negative and adult literacy positive association with the rate of total crime. Police strength is negative and significant with the rate of total crimes in the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The results show that economic incentives and criminal justice system disincentives impact criminal behaviour and can be used as an effective tool to prevail general deterrence across districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.