Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Microgeographic Evidence from Chicago

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Herrnstadt, Evan; Heyes, Anthony; Muehlegger, Erich; Saberian, Soodeh
• 署名单位: Congressional Budget Office; University of Ottawa; University of Exeter; University of California System; University of California Davis; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Manitoba
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20190091
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 70-100
• 关键词: ozone exposure; serotonin; weather; aggression; HEALTH; temperature; QUALITY; exhaust; time

摘要

A growing literature documents that air pollution adversely impacts health, productivity, and cognition. This paper provides the first evidence of a causal link between air pollution and aggressive behavior, as documented by violent crime. Using the geolocation of crimes in Chicago from 2001-2012, we compare crime upwind and downwind of major highways on days when wind blows orthogonally to the road. Consistent with research linking pollution to aggression, we find that air pollution increases violent crime on the downwind sides of interstates. Our results suggest that pollution may reduce welfare and affect behavior through a wider set of channels than previously considered.