Population Size vs. Number of Crime - Is the Relationship Super-Linear?

International Journal of Information and Decision Science(2018), Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 26-39

24 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2013 Last revised: 8 Mar 2024

See all articles by Yu Sang Chang

Yu Sang Chang

Gachon University - College of Business and Economics

SungSup Choi

Gachon University - College of Business and Economics

Jinsoo Lee

KDI School of Public Policy and Management

Won Chang Jin

The Gallup Organization

Date Written: August 2, 2013

Abstract

Do large cities suffer from even greater incidence of crime? According to Bettencourt, et al. (2007), the number of crime follows super-linear relationship as a function of city size. For example, if the population size increases by 100%, the incidence of crime may increase by 120%. We analyzed a total of 11 types of crimes during 1995 to 2010 for about 250 cities exceeding the residents of 100,000 or more in the United States. We found that the relationship between the number of crime counts and size of cities have followed super-linear power function without exception. We also found that the values of scale exponents display time-invariant pattern during the 16-year period.

Keywords: Number of crime counts, the size of city, super-linear relationship, time-invariant distribution, city ecosystem

Suggested Citation

Chang, Yu Sang and Choi, SungSup and Lee, Jinsoo and Jin, Won Chang, Population Size vs. Number of Crime - Is the Relationship Super-Linear? (August 2, 2013). International Journal of Information and Decision Science(2018), Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 26-39, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2305136 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2305136

Yu Sang Chang (Contact Author)

Gachon University - College of Business and Economics ( email )

Korea

SungSup Choi

Gachon University - College of Business and Economics ( email )

1342 Sungnamdaero
Sungnam
Korea

Jinsoo Lee

KDI School of Public Policy and Management ( email )

P.O. Box 184
Seoul, 130-868
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
822-3299-1060 (Phone)
822-968-5072 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.kdischool.ac.kr

Won Chang Jin

The Gallup Organization ( email )

Washington, DC 20004
United States

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