The Effect of Social Connectedness on Crime: Evidence from the Great Migration

Bryan Stuart and Evan J. Taylor ()
Additional contact information
Evan J. Taylor: University of Arizona

No 12228, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper estimates the effect of social connectedness on crime across U.S. cities from 1970 to 2009. Migration networks among African Americans from the South generated variation across destinations in the concentration of migrants from the same birth town. Using this novel source of variation, we find that social connectedness considerably reduces murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts, with a one standard deviation increase in social connectedness reducing murders by 21 percent and motor vehicle thefts by 20 percent. Social connectedness especially reduces murders of adolescents and young adults committed during gang and drug activity.

Keywords: crime; social connectedness; Great Migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K42 N32 R23 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 80 pages
Date: 2019-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-law, nep-mig, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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https://docs.iza.org/dp12228.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Effect of Social Connectedness on Crime: Evidence from the Great Migration (2021)
Working Paper: The Effect of Social Connectedness on Crime: Evidence from the Great Migration (2017)
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