Do more educated neighbourhoods experience less property crime? Evidence from Indonesia

This paper identifies the causal effect of education on property crime at the district level in Indonesia during the period 2007–2012. Endogeneity issues are addressed by using techniques of difference generalized methods of moments estimations. The results show that neighborhoods with more educated residences experience less crime. Secondary and higher education play a particularly important role in reducing crime. Effects are more pronounced for crimes committed by males. One explanation seems to be that there are fewer opportunities for engaging in criminal behavior when in school. Extreme poverty appears to weaken the extent to which education reduces crime.