Graduation Year
Spring 2012
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
David Bjerk
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2012 Brianna J. Losoya
Abstract
Despite previous research in this area, the relationship between immigration and crime in the United States remains ambiguous and surrounded by misconceptions. However, recently, scholars have suggested that, despite the claims of policy-makers and popularized sociological theories, large immigrant concentrations may be linked with lower as opposed to higher crime rates. In the past, research in this area has been imprecise due to it its implementation of cross-sectional analyses for a limited selection of geographic regions. However, through the implementation of time-series procedures and the use of annual data for metropolitan statistical areas during the 2005–2010 periods, the present study evaluates the impact of changes in immigration concentration on changes in crime rates, both violent and non-violent. These multivariate analyses specify that violent and property crime rates generally decreased as metropolitan areas experienced increases in their proportion of immigrants. These results confirm the hypothesis that the recent decline in crime is partially due to increases in the concentration of foreign-born individuals.
Recommended Citation
Losoya, Brianna J., "Examining the Role of Immigration in Crime Decline Across United States Cities" (2012). CMC Senior Theses. 355.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/355