The Urban Crime and Heat Gradient in High and Low Poverty Areas / Kilian Heilmann, Matthew E. Kahn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Heilmann, Kilian.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Kahn, Matthew E.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w25961.

NBER working paper series no. w25961

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2019.

Summary:

We use spatially disaggregated daily crime data for the City of Los Angeles to measure the impact of heat and pollution on crime and to study how this relationship varies across the city. On average, overall crime increases by 2.2% and violent crime by 5.7% on days with maximum daily temperatures above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4° C) compared to days below that threshold. The heat-crime relationship is more pronounced in low-income neighborhoods. This suggests that heat shocks can increase spatial urban quality of life differences through their effect on crime. We use other administrative data and find some evidence that policing intensity declines on extremely hot days. These findings highlight that the quality of urban governance during times of extreme stress may be an important policy lever in helping all socio-economic groups adapt to climate change.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2019.