Changes in Age and Crime

Carlos Galindo, El Colegio de México

Several researchers have investigated possible relationships between age and crime. Using different data and methodologies they have often attained contradictory results (cfr. Levin 1999, Maxim 1985). Here I apply a decomposition method developed by Vaupel and Canudas (2002) to explore this problem. I also present some indications on why some methods may not be useful to analyze age and crime relationship. The data and methodology used here indicate that age and crime are nonlinearly related, and proportional changes in age groups can explain at least half of proportional fluctuations in crime rates.