Assessing the Impact of Public Policy on Homicide Rates in Brazil: The Case of PRONASCI Program

• Author: Marcelo Justus,Ana Lúcia Kassouf,Talita Egevardt de Castro
• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/07340168211039006
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Assessing the Impact

of Public Policy on Homicide

Rates in Brazil: The Case

of PRONASCI Program

Talita Egevardt de Castro

1

, Marcelo Justus

2

,

and Ana L ´

ucia Kassouf

3

Abstract

The current study evaluates the impact of the National Public Security with Citizenship Program

(PRONASCI) on the homicide rate in Brazilian municipalities. PRONASCI program was imple-

mented in Brazilian metropolitan regions and urban territories with high violent crime rates in 2007.

In this study, we have applied a spatial difference-in-differences model with matching approaches.

Municipalities that did not receive funds from the program made up the control group. We found

that the program was inefficient to reduce the homicide rate in all of the municipalities that had

received funds from it, compared to those that had not, even considering their potential spatial

spillover effects. This result was expected due to the program complexity, in particular due to its

ineffective management and the resistance from municipalities to change with the program.

Keywords

impact assessment, PRONASCI, spatial difference-in-differences, homicide rate

Introduction

The National Public Security with Citizenship Program (PRONASCI) was instituted by Law No.

11,530 of October 24, 2007, and amended by Law No. 11,707 of June 19, 2008, in Brazil. The

program articulated public security strategies and social actions, with the objective of developing

prevention and deterrence actions for policing, ranging from training for public security profession-

als to actions to promote citizenship and for crime levels reduction (Ruediger, 2013).

1

State University of Western Paran´

a, Francisco Beltra

˜o, Paran´

a, Brazil

2

Institute of Economics, University of Campinas, Sa

˜o Paulo, Brazil

3

Esalq, University of Sa

˜o Paulo, Brazil and Partnership for Economic Policy - PEP, Brazil

Corresponding Author:

Talita Egevardt de Castro, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paran´

a, Rua Maring´

a, 1200, Francisco Beltra

˜o, Paran´

a 85605,

Brazil.

Email: talita.egevardt@gmail.com

Criminal Justice Review

ª2021 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/07340168211039006

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2021, Vol. 46(4) 495–509