Why do mexicans report so little crime? The determinants of crime reporting in Mexico

Abstract

We analyze the factors that explain a victim’s decision to report burglary, public theft, extortion, and fraud to the public prosecutor’s office in Mexico. Using a probit model and combining survey and census data, we examine how reporting is explained by the sociodemographic characteristics of the victim, variables describing the incident, the victim’s perceptions regarding police and public safety, and regional characteristics regarding public safety and government. Results show that variables describing the incident are the most consistent predictors across all crime types, while some sociodemographic characteristics are relevant for specific types. Our results for victims’ perceptions and community characteristics show that increasing perception of police corruption reduces burglary reporting and that a greater generalized perception of police corruption reduces fraud reporting. These results suggest that there is room for increasing crime reporting by policies oriented to reduce police corruption and improve the population’s perception of the police.