Spatial correlation between homicide rates and inequality: Evidence from urban neighborhoods

Working with a unique neighborhood homicide dataset from 2008 to 2010, this paper makes two contributions. First, we capture the importance of the spatial dependence on homicide rates within large urban center neighborhoods. Second, we measure the influence of spatial dependence more precisely by calculating the total, direct, and indirect effects of neighborhood characteristics on homicides. The results show that areas with low homicides rates are surrounded by neighborhoods with high murder rates, and that, despite the significant positive effect of inequality on criminality, this influence is mitigated by the nature of the spatial dependence of criminality among the neighbors. •We analyzed the impact of socioeconomic and neighborhood characteristics on homicide rates.•We caught the neighborhood impact on homicide rates.•Areas with low criminality are surrounded by neighborhoods with high murder rates.•A reduction in the Gini coefficient implies a decrease in the neighborhood homicide rate (total effect).•A reduction in the Gini coefficient implies an increase in the homicide rates in surroundings neighborhoods (indirect effect).