No life, no land: Homicide and dispossession in Mexico

Meneses-Reyes, Rodrigo; García-Tejeda, Enrique; Fondevila, Gustavo; Massa, Ricardo

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105593

No life, no land: Homicide and dispossession in Mexico

Journal

Land Use Policy

ISSN

0264-8377

Date Issued

2021

Author(s)

Meneses-Reyes, Rodrigo

García-Tejeda, Enrique

Facultad de Derecho - CampCM

Fondevila, Gustavo

Massa, Ricardo

Type

text::journal::journal article

DOI

10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105593

URL

https://scripta.up.edu.mx/handle/20.500.12552/1910

Abstract

Literature suggests that the spatial concentration of violence can contribute to destabilizing property relations. In this context, there is an underexplored area related to the study of the relationship between specific forms of violence (homicide) and dispossession – defined as the criminal intent of taking property through violence and force. This study seeks to fill this gap by testing the violence/property hypothesis using information from 2471 sub-national units of Mexico for the period 2015–2019. Findings confirm a spatial association between dispossession and homicide that is not randomly distributed across space. Moreover, it is found to be neither fixed nor dichotomous. This could open a debate on the causal direction between homicidal violence and property dispute.