The Place-based Effects of Police Stations on Crime: Evidence from Station Closures
Sebastian Blesse, André Diegmann
Journal of Public Economics,
March
2022
Abstract
Many countries consolidate their police forces by closing down local police stations. Police stations represent an important and visible aspect of the organization of police forces. We provide novel evidence on the effect of centralizing police offices through the closure of local police stations on crime outcomes. Combining matching with a difference-in-differences specification, we find an increase in reported car theft and burglary in residential properties. Our results are consistent with a negative shift in perceived detection risks and are driven by heterogeneous station characteristics. We can rule out alternative explanations such as incapacitation, crime displacement, and changes in police employment or strategies at the regional level. We argue that criminals are less deterred due to a lower visibility of the local police.
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Heterogeneity in Criminal Behaviour after Child Birth: the Role of Ethnicity
Kabir Dasgupta, André Diegmann, Tom Kirchmaier, Alexander Plum
Abstract
This paper documents behavioral differences in parental criminality between majority and minority ethnic groups after child birth. The particular effect we exploit is that of the gender of the first-born child on fathers’ convictions rates. Based on detailed judicial and demographic data from New Zealand, we first show that the previously documented inverse relationship between having a son and father’s criminal behaviour holds across the average of the population. However, when splitting the fathers’ sample by ethnicity, the effect appears to be entirely driven by the white part of the population and that there is no effect on the native Maori. The strong ethnic divide is observed along many dimensions and challenges the implicitly made assumption in the economics of crime literature that findings are universally applicable across cultures and race.
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Police Reorganization and Crime: Evidence from Police Station Closures
Sebastian Blesse, André Diegmann
Abstract
Does the administrative organization of police affect crime? In answering this question, we focus on the reorganization of local police agencies. Specifically, we study the effects police force reallocation via station closures has on local crime. We do this by exploiting a quasi-experiment where a reform substantially reduced the number of police stations. Combining a matching strategy with an event-study design, we find no effects on total theft. Police station closures, however, open up tempting opportunities for criminals in car theft and burglary in residential properties. We can rule out that our effects arise from incapacitation, crime displacement, or changes in employment of local police forces. Our results suggest that criminals are less deterred after police station closures and use the opportunity to steal more costly goods.
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The Internet Effects on Sex Crime Offenses – Evidence from the German Broadband Internet Expansion
André Diegmann
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization,
September
2019
Abstract
This paper studies the effects of the introduction of a new mass medium on sex crime in Germany. I use unique data on criminal offenses and broadband internet measured at the municipal level to shed light on this issue. In order to address endogeneity in broadband internet availability, I exploit technical peculiarities at the regional level that determine the roll-out of high-speed internet. Results provide evidence of a substitution effect of internet exposure on sex crime. The substitution effect is neither driven by differences in reporting behavior, nor by matching processes at the victim and offender side. This suggests that the consumption of extreme media plays an important role in explaining the documented high-speed internet effect.
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07.06.2017 • 24/2017
IWH-Lunchbag-Seminar zur Abschaffung von Bargeld „Abolishing Cash: An Effective Instrument for Fighting the Shadow Economy, Crime and Terrorism?“
Das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) lädt am Donnerstag, dem 8. Juni 2017 um 13:00 Uhr zu einem Lunchbag-Seminar zum Thema „Abolishing Cash: An Effective Instrument for Fighting the Shadow Economy, Crime and Terrorism?“ mit Friedrich Schneider von der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz in den Konferenzsaal des Instituts ein.
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Trade Misinvoicing: The Dark Side of World Trade
A. Buehn, Stefan Eichler
World Economy,
Nr. 8,
2011
Abstract
We analyse the determinants of trade misinvoicing using data on 86 countries from 1980 to 2005. In a simple microeconomic framework, we derive the determinants of four different types of trade misinvoicing taking into account that only the financial incentives determine whether and how much exports/imports to underinvoice or overinvoice, whereas the deterrents only affect the extent of misinvoicing. The hypothesised determinants are tested using data on discrepancies in bilateral trade with the United States. We find that the black market premia and tariffs motivate illegal trading activities. Higher financial penalties effectively act as a deterrent to this crime.
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