This paper presents an explanation of the recent escalation of violent crime in Colombia. The author considers three implicit models, that isolate different types of externalities among criminals. He shows that a myriad empirical evidence - both statistical and anecdotal - lends support to these...

In the paper, the authors draw a profile of the victims of crime in Latin America. They show that the typical victimsof property crime in Latin America come from rich and middle class households and tend to live in larger and faster growing cities. On the whole, the results indicate that urban...