Gender, justice, and crime: an empirical analysis

Wen, Jinglin (2023) Gender, justice, and crime: an empirical analysis. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis consists of five chapters relating to gender justice, education, sanction law, and public policy.

In the first chapter, I examine the effect of female leadership in local government on violence against women. Regression discontinuity estimates show that elections of female mayors decrease violence specifically targeted toward women but leave other violence unaffected. Moreover, the study explores behavioral responses by victims. Evidence suggests that female victims are more likely to report violence against them after female mayors take office. Importantly, female victories are followed by greater police responsiveness to violence against women.

In the second chapter, I study the impact of the appointment of female chief officers in policing on female salient crimes. Evidence shows that appointing more female chief officers leads to a significant increase in recorded female salient crimes. Yet, this rise is good news, which is due not to a rise in actual crimes committed but, rather, to greater reporting or recording. I also find that the appointment of female chief officers decreases violence against women.

The third chapter, joint with Prateek Chandra Bhan, studies the role modelling effect of historical statues. We conduct a Ramdomised Controlled Trail (RCT) and find that treatment with a virtual tour to four statues of distinct role models in Jaipur leads to an increase in students’ academic performance. Evidence from heterogeneity analysis suggests that the statues intervention affects only boys.

In the fourth chapter, I study the effect of health care on domestic violence. I find that improving access to medical care significantly decreases domestic violence against women. I corroborate this by using an instrument variable approach. I close by examining the effect of expanding Medicaid coverage. Exploration of mechanisms suggests that expanding health insurance may save battered women’s lives by increasing economic independence for women.

In the fifth chapter, I look into the impact of the severity of punishment on the behavior of victims, police, and potential criminals. Using multiple causal identification strategies, I study the felony theft thresholds. Evidence shows that the felony theft thresholds have significant effect on crime reporting: felony thefts are more likely to be reported to the police by victims. Moreover, raising the felony thresholds reduces deterrence, and therefore leads to a decline in law and order.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
• Supervisor's Name: Ghosal, Professor Sayantan and Koutmeridis, Dr. Theodore
• Date of Award: 2023
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2023-83842
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 20 Jun 2024 10:33
• Last Modified: 20 Jun 2024 10:35
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.83842
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/83842