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Crime and Mobility during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Preliminary Empirical Exploration

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In this research note we document the decrease in victimisation rates during the COVID-19 lockdown period in New Zealand. We show that the changes in mobility patterns in the same period are significantly correlated with these changes in crime rates. We discuss how our preliminary empirical results accord with the theories of crime in economics and criminology.

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  • Lydia Cheung & Philip Gunby, 2020. "Crime and Mobility during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Preliminary Empirical Exploration," Working Papers in Economics 20/17, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbt:econwp:20/17
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    File URL: https://repec.canterbury.ac.nz/cbt/econwp/2017.pdf
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    1. Steven D. Levitt, 2004. "Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 163-190, Winter.
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    4. Payne, Jason Leslie & Morgan, Anthony, 2020. "Property Crime during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A comparison of recorded offence rates and dynamic forecasts (ARIMA) for March 2020 in Queensland, Australia," SocArXiv de9nc, Center for Open Science.
    5. Mohler, George & Bertozzi, Andrea L. & Carter, Jeremy & Short, Martin B. & Sledge, Daniel & Tita, George E. & Uchida, Craig D. & Brantingham, P. Jeffrey, 2020. "Impact of social distancing during COVID-19 pandemic on crime in Los Angeles and Indianapolis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
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    7. Levitt, Steven D. & Miles, Thomas J., 2007. "Empirical Study of Criminal Punishment," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 455-495, Elsevier.
    8. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote & José A. Scheinkman, 1996. "Crime and Social Interactions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(2), pages 507-548.
    9. Payne, Jason Leslie & Morgan, Anthony & Piquero, Alex R., 2020. "COVID-19 and Social Distancing Measures in Queensland Australia Are Associated with Short-Term Decreases in Recorded Violent Crime," SocArXiv z4m8t, Center for Open Science.
    10. Payne, Jason Leslie & Morgan, Anthony, 2020. "COVID-19 and Violent Crime: A comparison of recorded offence rates and dynamic forecasts (ARIMA) for March 2020 in Queensland, Australia," SocArXiv g4kh7, Center for Open Science.
    11. Gabriel Pons Rotger & George Charles Galster, 2019. "Neighborhood peer effects on youth crime: natural experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 655-676.
    12. Ehrlich, Isaac, 1973. "Participation in Illegitimate Activities: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 521-565, May-June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Moslehi, Solmaz & Parasnis, Jaai & Tani, Massimiliano & Vejayaratnam, Josephina, 2021. "Assaults during Lockdown in NSW and Victoria," IZA Discussion Papers 14573, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Lydia Cheung & Philip Gunby, 2023. "The Initial and Dynamic Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Crime in New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 23/03, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Carlos Díaz & Sebastian Fossati & Nicolás Trajtenberg, 2022. "Stay at home if you can: COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home guidelines and local crime," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1113, December.
    4. Hong, Sunmin & Jeong, Dohyo & Kim, Pyung, 2024. "Have offender demographics changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from money mules in South Korea," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; crime; mobility; lockdown;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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