Revisiting crime-inequality nexus: the role of inequality of opportunity in income

Crime-inequality nexus has been studied for years, yielding mixed results. This article argues that inequality of opportunity rather than income inequality should be used instead, since it captures the inequity component of income inequality, which causes social tensions and conflicts. This article firstly constructs an analytical framework for inequality of opportunity and crime, then CGSS dataset and provincial panel data from China are combined to model the crime – inequality of opportunity relationship. It is found that inequality of opportunity has a significant positive relationship with crime, rather, income inequality is insignificant. This crime-increasing effect diminishes in areas with higher education spending, higher marriage rate and lower migrant population. Mechanism analysis suggests that inequality of opportunity significantly impairs individuals’ health, social trust and increases their internet usage, potentially contributing to crime. This article enables new insight into what drives crime, it is consequently recommended alleviating inequality of opportunity, not income inequality alone.