Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/222861 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1879
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
I posit that hourly changes in air pollution affect criminality through two distinct pathways, via physiological effects on the criminal and by changes in the tightness of the market for criminal activities. To disentangle individual from market effects, I develop a behavioral model of the individual decision to transgress and a model of search-and-matching frictions between criminals and crime opportunities. The study examines the impact on the four largest cities in North America. Causality emerges from instrumental variable panel-models. Results show that pollution increases violent and unpremeditated crimes while decreasing burglaries and sexual offenses through a reduction of crime opportunities.
Subjects: 
local air pollution
criminality
external effects
prospect theory
search and matching frictions
panel models
JEL: 
K14
Q53
I18
H23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.