The Impact of Direct Democracy on Society - Universität St.Gallen

– 156 –In addition, since Switzerland is a small country surrounded by several neighboring countries,the relatively greater wealth <strong>of</strong> Switzerland might attract an influx <strong>of</strong> foreign criminals whomight exert a deleterious influence on p ublic safety. <strong>The</strong>refore, a dichotomous variable isincluded indicating that a canton is closely situated to a border crossing rich in traffic.A different way <strong>of</strong> interpreting the traditional determinants <strong>of</strong> crime supply is provided bybehavioral economics and sociologists who emphasize that ecological factors such asopportunities for illegal activities, the institutional environment in which decisions are made,and peer group pressure are decisive. For example, it is argued that in segmented (dual) labormarkets, workers in the secondary labor market face job conditions that are more similar toillegitimate activities than to normal employment (see PIORE 1968, and an empirical test byMYERS 1983). With respect to income inequality, it is believed that relative welfare or incomecomparisons 177 <strong>of</strong> those below the mean income with those above occur, creating a feeling <strong>of</strong>‘malevolence’ and causing more crime (EHRLICH 1973). On the other hand, welfare transfers,if correctly targeted, might reduce this envy <strong>of</strong> the socially deprived (KELLY 2000).According to PUTNAM's (2000) social capital theory, higher social capital such as voluntaryneighborhood watches and mutual control and trust brings about lower <strong>of</strong>fense rates. In sum,in the behavioral approach, all types <strong>of</strong> sociodemographic and economic variables such aseducation, urbanization, age structure <strong>of</strong> population, income, expenditure for police,unemployment rates, wage levels, share <strong>of</strong> foreigners, and racial structure <strong>of</strong> population canbe motivated and interpreted ecologically.4 DataAvailable for this study are Swiss macro data at the cantonal level, which can be used toestimate the aggregate supply <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fense function. Crime rates are calculated on the basis <strong>of</strong>data provided by the Federal Office <strong>of</strong> Police (BAP) on cantonal occurrences <strong>of</strong> infractionsand attempted infractions <strong>of</strong> criminal law from 1986 to 2001 per 100,000 residents 178 .177 Hence, cases <strong>of</strong> utility interdependence are included that are not usually present in a neoclassical framework.178 In Switzerland, centralized collection <strong>of</strong> reliable cantonal data on crime started in 1984, and since 1986 theyhave been available electronically. Swiss cantonal police forces either count the number <strong>of</strong> victims or thenumber <strong>of</strong> cases. For example, a murder with four victims is recorded as a 'four' in some cantons and in therest as 'one'. Also definitions <strong>of</strong> auto theft differ to a great extent. <strong>The</strong>refore, cantonal crime levels are notdirectly comparable. Heterogeneity in reporting behavior was identified through a survey <strong>of</strong> the 26 cantonalpolice forces in cooperation with the Swiss conference <strong>of</strong> chiefs <strong>of</strong> cantonal police. <strong>The</strong>se results are subjectto strict confidentiality. Based on these findings, dichotomous control variables are constructed and includedin equations (1) and (3). Most are highly significant. A replication <strong>of</strong> the German and French questionnairecan be found in the Appendix <strong>of</strong> this chapter.