Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/141506 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9747
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper uses survey and experimental data from prison inmates and comparable non-inmates to examine the drivers of rising criminality in China. Consistent with socio-biological research on other species, we find that China's high sex-ratios are associated with greater risk-taking and impatience amongst males. These underlying behavioral impacts explain some part of the increase in criminality. The primary avenue through which the sex-ratio increases crime, however, is the direct pressure on men to appear financially attractive in order to find a partner in the marriage market. These marriage market pressures result in a higher propensity to commit financially rewarding crimes.
Subjects: 
crime
marriage markets
risk-taking
time preferences
sex-ratio
one child policy
China
JEL: 
O12
J12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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