Pollution or crime: The effect of driving restrictions on criminal activity

Paul E. Carrillo, Andrea Lopez-Luzuriaga, Arun S. Malik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Driving restriction programs have been implemented in many cities around the world to alleviate pollution and congestion problems. Enforcement of such programs is costly and can potentially displace policing resources used for crime prevention and crime detection. Hence, driving restrictions may increase crime. To test this hypothesis, we exploit both temporal and spatial variation in the implementation of Quito, Ecuador's Pico y Placa program, and evaluate its effect on crime. Both difference-in-differences and spatial regression discontinuity estimates provide credible evidence that driving restrictions have increased crime rates.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)50-69
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Public Economics
Volume164
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2018
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics

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