Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/52001 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5675
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Does internet use trigger sex crime? We use unique Norwegian data on crime and internet adoption to shed light on this question. A public program with limited funding rolled out broadband access points in 2000-2008, and provides plausibly exogenous variation in internet use. Our instrumental variables and fixed effect estimates show that internet use is associated with a substantial increase in reported incidences of rape and other sex crimes. We present a theoretical framework that highlights three mechanisms for how internet use may affect reported sex crime, namely a reporting effect, a matching effect on potential offenders and victims, and a direct effect on crime propensity. Our results indicate that the direct effect is non-negligible and positive, plausibly as a result of increased consumption of pornography.
Subjects: 
internet
broadband
instrumental variables
sex crimes
rape
pornography
JEL: 
J13
H40
I28
D31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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