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School Kids and Oil Rigs: Two More Pieces of the Post‐Katrina Puzzle in New Orleans

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  • Kelly Frailing
  • Dee Wood Harper, Jr.

Abstract

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina's landfall in August 2005 and the reports of rampant looting of businesses in the city, we became curious about the extent of Katrina looting as compared to that after other major storms that hit New Orleans in 1947 and in 1965. Using burglary as a proxy variable for looting, we discovered that the burglary rates in the month before and the month after Katrina were significantly higher than those before and after the other two hurricanes. We then investigated the socioeconomic conditions in the city in an effort to explain these numbers. Population loss and high unemployment rates, coupled with a decline in high‐paying manufacturing jobs and an increase in low‐wage food and hotel service jobs generated severe economic inequality in the city that exacerbated the situation created by Katrina. Our current analysis of the impact of public school desegregation and the oil bust suggests that both events contributed to population loss and the increase in low‐wage jobs prior to the storm. We believe that this type of research can assist in the recovery of New Orleans by providing an understanding of the city's pre‐Katrina social and economic conditions and make clearer which post‐Katrina changes are desirable.

Suggested Citation

  • Kelly Frailing & Dee Wood Harper, Jr., 2010. "School Kids and Oil Rigs: Two More Pieces of the Post‐Katrina Puzzle in New Orleans," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 717-735, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:69:y:2010:i:2:p:717-735
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2010.00720.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Richard B. Freeman, 1996. "Why Do So Many Young American Men Commit Crimes and What Might We Do about It?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 25-42, Winter.
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