Детерминанты преступности в сфере жилищно-коммунального хозяйства крупных городов России

Abstract

Objective: to determine the most important factors of crimes in the sphere of dwelling and communal services in Russian cities (with a population of over 1 million people). Methods: correlation analysis using Pearson coefficient. Results: the initial hypothesis is based on the following assumptions about the determination of crime in the dwelling-communal sector: this crime is proportional to the total criminality of the region economy (the number of all corruption crimes revealed by divisions of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in all spheres of economic activities in the studied cities), production indicators (number of investments and amount of financing in the dwelling-communal sector, volume of construction works, etc.), as well as the degree of monopolization in the dwelling-communal sector in the region (i.e., proportional to the number of municipal utilities). To check the hypotheses, we used data on crime and socio-economic characteristics of the dwelling-communal sector in 15 largest Russian cities in 2012-2013, as well as the data about crime in the sphere of dwelling and communal services and about the corruption crimes in Russian cities in 2012-2014. As a result, the calculations partially confirmed the hypotheses: the dependence of the level of crime in the dwelling-communal sector of Russian cities on the level of corruption crimes in these cities is high (r = 0,63), as well as the dependence on the number of organizations operating in the dwelling-communal sector (r = -0,47). At the same time the correlation was weak between the volume of activity in the dwelling-communal sector in Russian cities and the level of crime in them (absolute value of Pearson coefficient is lower than 0,4). Scientific novelty: for the first time the article investigated the determinants of crime in the sphere of dwelling and communal services in Russian cities on the basis of correlation analysis using Pearson coefficient. Practical significance: the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in further economic-criminological analysis when considering the issues of crime in the sphere of dwelling and communal services in Russian cities.