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Speaker: Laura Jaitman, Research Economist, Inter-American Development Bank
About the talk: Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region on earth, with a homicide rate that is 4 times the global average. In this talk, first recent estimates of the economic cost of crime will be presented, and LAC high crime rates will be discussed within the Becker crime economics framework. Second, an innovative theoretical extension to this framework will be presented concerning the relationship between the production of durable goods and crime. Finally, specific policy implications for LAC countries will be explored.
Dr. Laura Jaitman is an Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). She joined the IDB in 2014, where she previously coordinated the research agenda for the Citizen Security and Justice sector. Her principal area of research is the economics of crime, development economics, and the evaluation of crime prevention and crime control strategies. Before joining the IDB, she worked as a consultant at the World Bank, the IDB, and J-PAL in different developed and developing countries. Overall, Jaitman has more than a decade of working experience in the field of public policy. Jaitman holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University College London, UK. Her work has been published in international peer reviewed journals, such as the Economic Journal, and featured in international media.