Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach.
Climate and weather have been linked to criminal activity. The connection between climatological conditions and crime is of growing importance as we seek to understand the societal implications of climate change. This study describes the mechanisms theorized to link annual variations in climate to c...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5627925?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818287224484003840 |
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| author | Dana E Goin Kara E Rudolph Jennifer Ahern |
| author_facet | Dana E Goin Kara E Rudolph Jennifer Ahern |
| author_sort | Dana E Goin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate and weather have been linked to criminal activity. The connection between climatological conditions and crime is of growing importance as we seek to understand the societal implications of climate change. This study describes the mechanisms theorized to link annual variations in climate to crime in California and examines the effect of drought on statewide crime rates from 2011-2015. California has suffered severe drought since 2011, resulting in intensely dry winters and several of the hottest days on record. It is likely that the drought increased economic stress and shifted routine activities of the population, potentially increasing the likelihood of crime. We used a synthetic control method to estimate the impact of California's drought on both property and violent crimes. We found a significant increase in property crimes during the drought, but no effect on violent crimes. This result was robust to several sensitivity analyses, including a negative control. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T01:37:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a2884b0b9a824b899f56d7ba35db3068 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T01:37:05Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-a2884b0b9a824b899f56d7ba35db30682022-12-22T00:03:52ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-011210e018562910.1371/journal.pone.0185629Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach.Dana E GoinKara E RudolphJennifer AhernClimate and weather have been linked to criminal activity. The connection between climatological conditions and crime is of growing importance as we seek to understand the societal implications of climate change. This study describes the mechanisms theorized to link annual variations in climate to crime in California and examines the effect of drought on statewide crime rates from 2011-2015. California has suffered severe drought since 2011, resulting in intensely dry winters and several of the hottest days on record. It is likely that the drought increased economic stress and shifted routine activities of the population, potentially increasing the likelihood of crime. We used a synthetic control method to estimate the impact of California's drought on both property and violent crimes. We found a significant increase in property crimes during the drought, but no effect on violent crimes. This result was robust to several sensitivity analyses, including a negative control.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5627925?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Dana E Goin Kara E Rudolph Jennifer Ahern Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach. PLoS ONE |
| title | Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach. |
| title_full | Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach. |
| title_fullStr | Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach. |
| title_short | Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach. |
| title_sort | impact of drought on crime in california a synthetic control approach |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5627925?pdf=render |
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