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Crime and sport participation: Evidence from Italian regions over the period 1997–2003

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  • Caruso, Raul

Abstract

What is the impact of sport participation on society? This paper is tackling this point by studying whether or not there is a relationship between sport participation and crime. A panel dataset have been constructed for the twenty Italian regions over the period 1997–2003. Results show that: (i) there is a robust negative association between sport participation and property crime; (ii) there is a robust negative association between sport participation and juvenile crime; (iii) there is a positive association between sport participation and violent crime, but it is only weakly significant. Interestingly, there is a complementary effect between education and sport participation on crime.

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  • Caruso, Raul, 2011. "Crime and sport participation: Evidence from Italian regions over the period 1997–2003," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 455-463.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:40:y:2011:i:5:p:455-463
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2010.09.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sport participation; Pro-social behaviour; Property crime; Violent crime; Juvenile crime; Relational goods; Kenneth Boulding; Cognitive and non-cognitive abilities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities

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