Economics and Violence in the Municipality of Navojoa

Abstract

The economic situation and violence are two issues that are in the interest of Mexican society. These two phenomena may have serious consequences for its multiplier effects in various areas of peaceful social coexistence. Therefore, the aim of the research paper trying to determine on the one hand, the influence of social capital (e.g. trust and solidarity, collective action and cooperation, social cohesion and inclusion) on structural violence, and on the other hand, the influence of unemployment on structural violence perceived by inhabitants of the neighborhood with greater violence in the municipality of Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico.

To meet the goals formulated was based on theoretical aspects of social capital and violence approaches. Integrated questionnaire of World Bank was applied to measure the social capital to a stratified random sample of 129 residents of the 10 neighborhood most violent municipality. To quantify the causal relationships proposed statistical analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Square technique (PLS models). The main results show that the lower social capital increases structural violence, but in turn, to higher unemployment levels are increased violence in the municipality under review.

Keywords: violence, social capital, public policy

JEL Classification: A130, I320, C290