Knowing Your Odds: Home Burglary and the Odds Ratio

This paper analyzes the utility maximization of a burglar who anticipates the revenue generated by his action along with the associated costs. The benefits are the value of the loot. Costs include the location of the home, the physical appearance, the demographic characteristics, and the security precautions present. When combined, they will either attract or detract criminal activity. A survey relating characteristics of Greenwich, Connecticut homes to burglary rates is used. The Logit model and the odds ratio integrate the above home characteristics to determine the likelihood of the home being victimized. The odds ratio calculates the probabilities of the home being victimized as a function of its characteristics. The results suggest the relative importance of each factor in contributing to the home becoming a target of burglary. The model can be used to predict the chances of homes being burgled depending on it specific attributes.

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Paper Number
00-14
Year
2000