Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/264299 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 111
Publisher: 
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza (DISCE), Milano
Abstract: 
We empirically test the relationship between crime and impatience at the individual level exploiting data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). Besides providing information on both violent and property crimes, NLSY97 allows to observe different behaviors sharing impatience as a common latent factor. We use factor analysis to extract this common factor as a measure for impatience. Estimates from a Logit model suggest a positive association between impatience and crime. This relationship differs across genders: impatience matters for both violent and property crimes for women, while it affects only violent crimes for men. The result is robust to different specifications of the factor analysis and to controls for risk preferences. Our results bring support to policies aimed at influencing individual time preferences as an indirect way to combat crime.
Subjects: 
Time preferences
Impatience
Property crime
Violent crime
NLSY97
factor analysis
JEL: 
D99
K42
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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