Question For Help

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Economics of Crime Paper

Due: Friday, July 29th 8:00PM

Your assignment is to read and write about an academic paper from the crime field.  Your paper should include the following sections: background, theory, datasets, empirical strategy, and conclusion.  Background should include details on the question the paper is trying to answer, as well as other background information on the topic.  In the theory section you should apply knowledge from the theoretical models we used in class to the topic of the paper.  The academic paper will likely have a theory section that may be mathematically intense and extend far beyond the scope of this course.  You may use this material in your paper if you’d like, but you are only required to discuss how the topic related to models used in the course.  The datasets section should include what the outcome and explanatory variable are and  where the data came from.  It should also include the years the data includes as well as the unit of observation (state, county, city, census tract, etc).  The empirical strategy section should discuss the empirical strategy they use (instrumental variables, difference in differences), and why they are using it (omitted variable bias, reverse causality, etc).  This section should also include the model/equation that is being estimated.  Again, the academic paper will likely include information in their section that extends the scope of this course.  You are only responsible for discussing how what we’ve learned in this course relates to the paper.  Finally, there should be a conclusion that discusses the findings of the paper.  There is not length requirement for your paper, but it should cover each section in detail

 

Papers to Choose From

  • “Estimates of the Impact of Crime Risk on Property Values from Megan’s Laws” (Linden and Rockoff 2008)
  • “Keep the Kids Inside? Juvenile Curfews and Urban Gun Violence” (Carr and Doleac 2018)
  • “The Effects of DNA Databases on Crime” (Doleac 2017)
  • “Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light Influences Criminal Behavior” (Doleac and Sanders 2015)
  • “Does Strengthening Self-Defense Law Deter Crime or Escalate Violence? Evidence from Expansions to Castle Doctrine” (Cheng and Hoekstra 2013)
  • “Fear of Crime and Housing Prices: Household Reactions to Sex Offenders Registries” (Pope 2008)
  • “More COPS, Less Crime” (Mello 2019)
  • “COPS and Crime” (Evans and Owens 2007)
  • “The Decision to Carry: The Effect of Crime on Concealed-Carry Applications” (Depew and Swensen 2019)
  • “Who Gets a Second Chance? Effectiveness and Equity in Supervision of Criminal Offenders” (Rose 2021)
  • “Child Access Prevention Laws and Juvenile Firearm-Related Homicides” (Anderson, Sabia, and Tekin 2021)
  • “Child Access Prevention Laws, Youth Gun Carrying, and School Shootings” (Anderson and Sabia 2018)
  • “The American Temperance Movement and Market-Based Violence” (Owens 2014)