IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/bejeap/v18y2018i4p19n9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Food Stamps, Income Shocks, and Crime: Evidence from California

Author

Listed:
  • Lovett Nicholas

    (Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Whitewater, WI 53538, USA)

Abstract

An extensive literature shows that reduced labor earnings lead to an increase in criminality, while another literature suggests that diminished economic conditions via changes in public assistance programs may alter criminal behavior. This study considers electronic benefit transfer (EBT) reforms that may have altered households’ real income, black market activity, and criminality. A natural experiment that relies on plausibly exogenous variation in the timing of EBT reforms across California counties is exploited within an event study design to identify the effect of EBT adoption on arrests. A significant, though transitory, increase in criminal arrests is revealed. Following conversion to EBT delivery, the average county experiences an additional 108 arrests per month, or equivalently an increase of 5 . This increase in arrests lasts up to 6 months before fading out. The increase is most pronounced for crimes motivated by income shortfalls, such as burglary, larceny, prostitution, and robbery. In the average county, income-motivated criminal arrests rise by about 25 arrests, or 10 . Estimates are practically and statistically significant, as well as robust to changes in controls and specification. Findings suggest that income shocks can substantially change criminal behavior and that declining economic conditions can alter criminal behavior through channels other than labor earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Lovett Nicholas, 2018. "Food Stamps, Income Shocks, and Crime: Evidence from California," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(4), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:18:y:2018:i:4:p:19:n:9
    DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2018-0034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2018-0034
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/bejeap-2018-0034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hilary W. Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2009. "Consumption Responses to In-Kind Transfers: Evidence from the Introduction of the Food Stamp Program," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 109-139, October.
    2. Douglas Almond & Hilary W. Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2011. "Inside the War on Poverty: The Impact of Food Stamps on Birth Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 387-403, May.
    3. Raphael, Steven & Winter-Ember, Rudolf, 2001. "Identifying the Effect of Unemployment on Crime," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 259-283, April.
    4. John M. Nunley & Michael L. Stern & Richard A. Seals & Joachim Zietz, 2016. "The Impact Of Inflation On Property Crime," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(3), pages 483-499, July.
    5. Nicholas Lovett & Yuhan Xue, 2017. "Have electronic benefits cards improved food access for food stamp recipients?," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 44(6), pages 958-975, November.
    6. Angrist, Joshua D. & Krueger, Alan B., 1999. "Empirical strategies in labor economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 23, pages 1277-1366, Elsevier.
    7. repec:fth:prinin:468 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Lance Lochner & Enrico Moretti, 2004. "The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 155-189, March.
    9. Ming-Jen Lin, 2008. "Does Unemployment Increase Crime?: Evidence from U.S. Data 1974–2000," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(2), pages 413-436.
    10. Chad Cotti & John Gordanier & Orgul Ozturk, 2016. "Eat (and Drink) Better Tonight: Food Stamp Benefit Timing and Drunk Driving Fatalities," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 511-534, Fall.
    11. Joanne M. Doyle & Ehsan Ahmed & Robert N. Horn, 1999. "The Effects of Labor Markets and Income Inequality on Crime: Evidence from Panel Data," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(4), pages 717-738, April.
    12. Shapiro, Jesse M., 2005. "Is there a daily discount rate? Evidence from the food stamp nutrition cycle," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 303-325, February.
    13. Richard Wright & Erdal Tekin & Volkan Topalli & Chandler McClellan & Timothy Dickinson & Richard Rosenfeld, 2017. "Less Cash, Less Crime: Evidence from the Electronic Benefit Transfer Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(2), pages 361-383.
    14. Diane Whitmore, 2002. "What Are Food Stamps Worth?," Working Papers 847, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    15. Karen S Hamrick & Margaret Andrews, 2016. "SNAP Participants’ Eating Patterns over the Benefit Month: A Time Use Perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, July.
    16. Eric D. Gould & Bruce A. Weinberg & David B. Mustard, 2002. "Crime Rates And Local Labor Market Opportunities In The United States: 1979-1997," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 45-61, February.
    17. Elena Castellari & Chad Cotti & John Gordanier & Orgul Ozturk, 2017. "Does the Timing of Food Stamp Distribution Matter? A Panel‐Data Analysis of Monthly Purchasing Patterns of US Households," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(11), pages 1380-1393, November.
    18. Raphael, Steven & WINTER-EBMER, RUDOLF, 1998. "Identifying the Effect of Unemployment on Crime," University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series qt5hb4h56g, Department of Economics, UC San Diego.
    19. Janet Currie, 2003. "US Food and Nutrition Programs," NBER Chapters, in: Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, pages 199-290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Diane Whitmore, 2002. "What Are Food Stamps Worth?," Working Papers 847, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nikhil Jha, 2021. "No time for crime? The effect of compulsory engagement on youth crime," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(6), pages 1571-1597, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brett Watson & Mouhcine Guettabi & Matthew Reimer, 2020. "Universal Cash and Crime," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(4), pages 678-689, October.
    2. Yu Liu & Thomas M. Fullerton Jr. & Nathan J. Ashby, 2013. "Assessing The Impacts Of Labor Market And Deterrence Variables On Crime Rates In Mexico," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(4), pages 669-690, October.
    3. Mustard, David B., 2010. "How Do Labor Markets Affect Crime? New Evidence on an Old Puzzle," IZA Discussion Papers 4856, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Jaewook Byeon & Iljoong Kim & Dongwon Lee, 2018. "Protest and property crime: political use of police resources and the deterrence of crime," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 181-196, April.
    5. Altindag, Duha T., 2012. "Crime and unemployment: Evidence from Europe," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 145-157.
    6. Williams, Geoffrey Fain, 2015. "Property crime: Investigating career patterns and earnings," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 124-138.
    7. Satadru Das & Naci Mocan, 2020. "Analyzing The Impact Of The World'S Largest Public Works Project On Crime," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(3), pages 1167-1182, July.
    8. Deiana, C, 2016. "Local Labour Market Effects of Unemployment on Crime Induced by Trade Shocks," Economics Discussion Papers 16529, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    9. Siwach, Garima, 2018. "Unemployment shocks for individuals on the margin: Exploring recidivism effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 231-244.
    10. Iljoong Kim & Jaewook Byeon, 2017. "Discretionary prosecution of regulatory crimes: disproportionate emphasis and consequences to other serious crimes," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 559-587, October.
    11. Lastauskas, Povilas & Tatsi, Eirini, 2017. "Spatial Nexus in Crime and Unemployment in Times of Crisis," Working Paper Series 2/2017, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    12. Patrick Bennett & Amine Ouazad, 2020. "Job Displacement, Unemployment, and Crime: Evidence from Danish Microdata and Reforms [The Link between Human Capital, Mass Layoffs, and Firm Deaths]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(5), pages 2182-2220.
    13. Blakeslee, David & Chaurey, Ritam & Fishman, Ram & Malghan, Deepak & Malik, Samreen, 2021. "In the heat of the moment: Economic and non-economic drivers of the weather-crime relationship," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 832-856.
    14. Rafael Dix-Carneiro & Rodrigo R. Soares & Gabriel Ulyssea, 2018. "Economic Shocks and Crime: Evidence from the Brazilian Trade Liberalization," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 158-195, October.
    15. Gaurav Khanna & Carlos Medina & Anant Nyshadham & Jorge Tamayo & Nicolas Torres, 2023. "Formal Employment and Organised Crime: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Colombia," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(654), pages 2427-2448.
    16. Kangoh Lee, 2018. "Unemployment and crime: the role of apprehension," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 59-80, February.
    17. Anna Rita Germani & Angelo Castaldo & Alan Ker, 2024. "Carrots, sticks, and environmental crime in Italy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 201-219, October.
    18. Zachary S. Fone & Joseph J. Sabia & Resul Cesur, 2019. "Do Minimum Wage Increases Reduce Crime?," NBER Working Papers 25647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Fone, Zachary S. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Cesur, Resul, 2023. "The unintended effects of minimum wage increases on crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    20. Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham, 2021. "SNAP Schedules and Domestic Violence," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 412-452, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; food stamps; crime; EBT;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:18:y:2018:i:4:p:19:n:9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.