Paper: Blanco & Ruiz (2013)

"The Impact of Crime and Insecurity on Trust in Democracy and Institutions", AER P&P, 2013
Very short 4-page P&P piece using a Latin American Survey for Columbia to examine correlations between exposure to crime and trust in the state/institutions.
== Summary ==
=== 0. Introduction ===
Institutions are commonly described as a key determinant of economic growth. One key factor of institutional quality is the trust of citizens in institutions. This trust is likely affected by numerous factors, in which the perception of insecurity and crime likely play an important role. 
Use data from the Latin American Opinion Project (LAPOP) for Columbia during 2004-2010 to analyze the impact of insecurity, crime victimization, exposure to armed conflict, and being asked for bribes, on support for/satisfaction with democracy, and trust in institutions.
=== I. Methodology and Data ===
Regression equation in cross-section of surveys:Y_{it} = \alpha + \beta_1 victim_{it} + \beta_2 insecurity_{it} + \beta_3 armed\_conflict_{it} + \beta_4 bribe_{it} + X\delta + P\rho + T\gamma + D\mu + \varepsilon_{it}Where X and P are vectors of individual and department (i.e. state) level characteristics, T a vector of time dummies, and D a vector of department dummies.
* victim_{it}: dummy equal to one if person has been a victim of a crime in the past 12 months
* insecurity_{it}: 1-4 scale index of perceptions of insecurity (4: very insecure, 1: very secure)
* armed\_conflict_{it}: dummy equal to one if the individual lost a family member, or a family member became a refugee or migrated to another country as a result of armed conflict
* bribe_{it}: dummy equal to one if a police agent or public employee asked the individual for a bribe in the last 12 months
* Y_{it}: use two variables related to democracy, and one related to institutions: (1) support for democracy, (2) satisfaction with democracy, and (3) trust in institutions. respectively, on 1-7, 1-4, and 1-7 scales.
Use seven waves (2004-2010) of the LAPOP survey which are representative for the voting age adult population (age > 18, 25/32 departments). Sample size per wave is ~1,500. Department lvl data from the National Department of Statistics.
=== II. Results ===
Just 1 table. Some things that stand out:
* Generally high significant effect
* Effect of victim of crime on support for democracy is positive
* Insecurity has the strongest effect, strongly negative and significant everywhere
* Insecurity the only significant and very strong influence on trust in others
=== III. Conclusion ===
Doesn't add much.