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The paper aims to investigate the effect of GDP growth on crime and to test the hypothesis of nonlinearity. Additionally, we estimate the interaction between GDP and income inequality and examine its impact on the relationship between GDP and homicide rates.

The study utilizes panel data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), spanning the period from 2000 to 2018 and estimates dynamic panel GMM models.

We found a nonlinear relationship between GDP and homicide rates, indicating a dual effect of GDP on the occurrence of lethal crimes. Moreover, income inequality conditions the effect of GDP on homicide rates, exerting a significant influence. We conclude that in contexts characterized by high levels of income inequality, GDP growth is more effective in reducing crime, as there is greater potential for improvement.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the complex nonlinearity between economic conditions, income inequality and homicide rates.

This chapter has briefly discussed the problems of defining development and underdevelopment, and Gustavo Esteva's opinion that ‘underdevelopment’ was invented. The Proposal for Action of the First UN Development Decade (1960–70), Mr Robert S McNamara's view (President of the World Bank in the 1970s) on development, the Western World's Perception of Development, the |Nature of the UN Institution for Socio-Economic Development in Developing Countries, the role of International Trade and Development have been discussed in this chapter.