The rising trends both in drug addiction and crime rates are of major public concern in Germany. Surprisingly, the economic theory of crime seems to ignore the drugs-crime nexus, whereas the criminological literature considers illicit drug use a main reason of criminal activities. This paper provides an econometric assessment of the drugs- crime channel within a Becker-Ehrlich model of crime supply. Estimations based on panel data from the German states allows us to take into account further factors that might influence both drug abuse and crime. The results indicate that drug offences have a significant impact, in particular on property crimes. We attribute this finding to a strong economic-related channel of drug abuse on crime.
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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Law and Economics with number
0108001.
Find related papers by JEL classification: K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data I19 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Other J49 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Other
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