Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Alexander James
Author-Name-First: Alexander
Author-Name-Last: James
Author-Email:  alex.james@uaa.alaska.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics and Public Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage
Author-Name:  Brock Smith
Author-Name-First: Brock
Author-Name-Last: Smith
Author-Email:  brock.smith@economics.ox.ac.uk
Author-Workplace-Name: Center for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford
Title: There will be blood: Crime rates in shale-rich U.S. counties
Abstract: Over the past decade, the production of shale oil and gas significantly increased in the United States. This paper uniquely examines how this energy boom has affected regional crime rates throughout the United States. There is evidence that, as a result of the ongoing shale-energy boom, shale-rich counties experienced faster growth in rates of both property and violent crimes including rape, assault, murder, robbery, burglary, larceny and grand-theft auto. These results are particularly robust for rates of assault, and less so for other types of crimes. Examining the migratory behavior of convicted sex offenders indicates that boomtowns disproportionately attract convicted felons. Policy makers should anticipate these effects and invest in public infrastructure accordingly.
Creation-date: 2014-09 
File-URL: http://www.econpapers.uaa.alaska.edu/RePEC/ala/wpaper/ALA201404.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Classification-JEL: Q3, R11, K42 
Keywords: Natural Resources, Hydraulic Fracturing, Crime, Resource Curse
Number: 2014-04
Handle: RePEc:ala:wpaper:2014-04