Crime in Lithuania The Impact of Accession to the European Union

The European Union (EU) has expanded its membership significantly in recent years to include Central and Eastern European countries. These countries are at significantly different levels of economic development than the other member states of the EU and are expected to undergo an economic adjustment to their new social, political, and economic reality. This paper investigates the effects on property crime of this economic adjustment to accession to the EU, using Lithuania as a case study. Using Lithuanian municipalities and fixed-effects estimation for 2001-6, the statistical results indicate that accession to the EU has led to a significant increase in theft, burglary, and juvenile delinquency.