The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched a call for research proposals on the measurement of costs of crime and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2012.
Crime and violence are the top concerns of citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean and absorb a substantial amount of government resources and efforts. They are also problems that deter the economic growth and social development of the region’s countries, as they negatively affect the business climate and the well-being of the citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups in society.
This call for research proposalsis an effort to quantify the negative consequences of this phenomenon, inform the public policy debate, and provide tools for systematic and robust analysis of citizen security policies promoted by governments.
The IDB seeks proposals that may focus on tangible and/or intangible costs of crime and violence in one or moreof the IDB’s borrowing countries in the region. Tangible costs include, for example, investments by people and communities to avoid being victims of crime and violence and expenditure on activities to identify and prosecute offenders. Some of the intangible costs that could be evaluated are the losses of social capital, well-being, equanimity, freedom, and trust.
Each selected research proposal will receive IDB financial support of up to $35,000. Projects with additional funding from other institutions to complement this financing will receive special consideration.
Proposals should be submitted no later than June 15, 2012 (COB 6:00 p.m. EST USA) to the following e-mail address: CostosCrimenViolencia@iadb.org. For more details on the callfor proposals visit Costos-Crimen-Violencia.