CRIME IN THE METROPOLITAN REGION OF BELO HORIZONTE:

Abstract

This paper analyzes the explanatory factors of crime in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, in 2007. The determinants of violent crimes against property and homicides reveal that an economic theory is relevant to explain the behavior of first, however, lacks explanatory power for the second. In relation to homicide rates, it was found that the absence of religiosity, the percentage of young people created by mothers without the father’s presence, as well as the actual violent crime against property positively affect the homicides in RMBH. A presence of spatial autocorrelation of violent crime against property did not require the use of regressions of spatial econometric models.