Decision-makers often rely on earlier actors but fail to correct for their biases. We model and measure two mechanisms: underestimating upstream bias and treating subjective information as ground truth. We link an original survey of 203 North Carolina prosecutors to their 505,787 cases....

Drawing upon extensive literature on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) spillovers, we hypothesize that FDI inflow represents a double-edged sword with respect to crime in host countries. On one hand, FDI can contribute to economic growth and social well-being by infusing capital and knowledge into...

This paper studies the impact of birthright citizenship on youth crime. We leverage a reform which automatically granted birthright citizenship to eligible immigrant children born in Germany after January 1, 2000 and administrative crime data from three federal states. Immigrant youth who...

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a critical threat to women's safety and equality worldwide, yet the role of climate and environmental stressors in shaping violence against women remains underexplored, particularly in developed countries. This study identifies the causal impact of shortrun...

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a critical threat to women's safety and equality worldwide, yet the role of climate and environmental stressors in shaping violence against women remains underexplored, particularly in developed countries. This study identifies the causal impact of short-run...

This paper studies the causal impact of female political representation on legislative behavior, social attitudes, and gender-based crime. Using a regression discontinuity design based on close mixed-gender electoral contests, we compare electorates that narrowly elected female versus male...

We study the causal effect of maternal criminal victimization on child health using linked police reports and birth records from Brazil. Focusing on robbery and theft - everyday crimes not involving physical injury - we show that victimization during pregnancy increases low birthweight by 6.9...

We study how incarceration experience shapes preferences for criminal justice policies. In collaboration with a newly opened prison, we conducted a randomized field experiment that o!ered citizens the opportunity to experience up to two days of incarceration, closely replicating the real-life...

Higher temperatures can increase substance abuse and exacerbate its physiological effects on the human body, raising the risk of violent behavior. Using administrative crime records and daily temperatures in the United States between 1991 and 2023, we show that two public policies regulating...

This paper studies how and why anti-Irish sentiment in 19th century England spills over onto jury decisions at London’s Old Bailey Central Criminal Court. We classify the (perceived) ethnicity of courtroom participants according to whether they have distinctly Irish or English surnames based...

We study how incarceration experience shapes preferences for criminal justice policies. In collaboration with a newly opened prison, we conducted a randomized field experiment that offered citizens the opportunity to experience up to two days of incarceration, closely replicating the real-life...

We investigate the long-run relationship between organized crime and corruption using data from 20 Italian regions over 30 years. As Rose-Ackerman and Palifka (2018) argue, corruption and organized crime often go together. Our study contributes to the literature in several ways in terms of...

This paper studies how and why anti-Irish sentiment in 19th century England spills over onto jury decisions at London's Old Bailey Central Criminal Court. We classify the (perceived) ethnicity of courtroom participants according to whether they have distinctly Irish or English surnames based on...

This study explores the gendered impacts of violent crime on economic opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. While both men and women experience violent crime, their exposure to violent crime and the consequences they suffer differ. Women are disproportionately affected by intimate...

This paper studies the impact of birthright citizenship on youth crime. We leverage a reform which automatically granted birthright citizenship to eligible immigrant children born in Germany after January 1, 2000 and administrative crime data from three federal states. Immigrant youth who...

This paper studies how and why anti-Irish sentiment in 19th century England spills over onto jury decisions at London’s Old Bailey Central Criminal Court. We classify the (perceived) ethnicity of courtroom participants according to whether they have distinctly Irish or English surnames based...

After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany experienced an increase in police-recorded child and juvenile delinquency that attracted considerable public attention. Given the limitations of official crime statistics, the parliament of the state of North Rhine-Westfalia asked the state...

This paper combines ten years of idiosyncratic variation in school closure dates for all secondary schools in England with administrative records of educational and criminal trajectories linked at the individual level to study the impact of the school schedule on the dynamics of youth crime....

Purpose The paper aims to investigate the effect of GDP growth on crime and to test the hypothesis of nonlinearity. Additionally, we estimate the interaction between GDP and income inequality and examine its impact on the relationship between GDP and homicide rates. Design/methodology/approach...

Racial disparities within the criminal justice system continue to be a pressing issue in the U.S. In this paper, we analyze data for almost four million stops by California's fifteen largest law enforcement agencies in 2019, examining the extent to which people of color experience searches,...

Violence is often viewed as an intrinsic feature of illicit markets, driven by competition, disputes, and predation. We argue that the connection between violence and markets is not exclusive to illicit markets and that in the absence of strong institutions these factors exist ubiquitously....

This report outlines the threat of pharmaceutical crime in the EU and beyond, as assessed by Europol. It aims to raise awareness of the ways criminal networks exploit consumers and industry in generating illegal revenue through producing and selling counterfeit medicines.

Freedom of speech is central to democracy, but protests that amplify extremist views expose a critical trade-off between civil liberties and public safety. This paper investigates how right-wing demonstrations affect the incidence of hate crimes, focusing on Germany's largest far-right movement...

Among Latin American countries, Peru has one of the highest crime rates, with 9 out of 10 Peruvians reporting feeling unsafe walking the streets at night. This rooted-in-reality feeling of insecurity may harm citizens' mental health. We study the consequences of the Peruvian Safe Neighborhood...

Can lowering barriers to public services reduce domestic violence? Exploiting the introduction of a non-mandatory police reporting policy, I find that it significantly reduces domestic violence cases reported to the police while increasing hospital-reported cases of domestic assault. I further...

The efficacy and fairness of cash bail in promoting public safety has been a prominent policy question in recent years, but it is difficult to rigorously estimate the effects of bail, particularly at the state level, because of a lack of exogenous variation. California responded to the COVID...

During New Year’s Eve 2015/2016, the German city of Cologne witnessed mass sexual assaults and thefts by perpetrators described as having an Arab-African appearance. This paper studies whether the event in Cologne led to a backlash in crimes against refugees in Germany....

Freedom of speech is central to democracy, but protests that amplify extremist views expose a critical trade-off between civil liberties and public safety. This paper investigates how right-wing demonstrations affect the incidence of hate crimes, focusing on Germany’s largest far-right...

Background: Cargo theft represents a persistent challenge to last-mile logistics in the peripheral regions of São Paulo, Brazil, compromising transportation security and increasing operational costs. These high-crime areas disrupt supply chain stability and hinder e-commerce growth. Traditional...

We study the effect of prison sentences on recidivism using a unique feature of sentencing for drunk driving in the Swedish court system. Below the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 1.0‰, individuals are never sentenced to prison and above 1.0‰, the average number of days sentenced to...