Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/93360 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8012
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We study peer effects in crime by analyzing co-offending networks. We first provide a credible estimate of peer effects in these networks equal to 0.17. This estimate implies a social multiplier of 1.2 for those individuals linked to only one co-offender and a social multiplier of 2 for those linked to three co-offenders. We then provide one of the first empirical tests of the key player policy in a real world setting. This policy defines a micro-founded strategy for removing the criminal from each network that reduces total crime by the largest amount. Using longitudinal data, we are able to compare the theoretical predictions of the key player policy with real world outcomes. By focusing on networks for which the key player has disappeared over time, we show that the theoretical predicted crime reduction is close to what is observed in the real world. We also show that the key player policy outperforms other reasonable police policies such as targeting the most active criminals or targeting criminals who have the highest betweenness or eigenvector centrality in the network. This indicates that behavioral-based policies can be more efficient in reducing crime than those based on algorithms that have no micro-foundation.
Subjects: 
crime
social networks
peer effects
social multiplier
key player
crime policies
JEL: 
A14
K42
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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