Firearms and the Decline of Violence in Europe: 1200-2010

Carlisle Moody ()
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Carlisle Moody: Department of Economics, The College of William and Mary

No 158, Working Papers from Department of Economics, College of William and Mary

Abstract: Personal violence, has declined substantially in Europe from 1200-2010. The conventional wisdom is that the state’s monopoly on violence is the cause of this happy result. I find some evidence that does not support this hypothesis. I suggest an alternative hypothesis that could explain at least some of the reduction in violence, namely that the invention and proliferation of compact, concealable, ready-to-use firearms caused potential assailants to recalculate the probability of a successful assault and seek alternatives to violence. I use structural change models to test this hypothesis and find breakpoints consistent with the invention of certain firearms.

JEL-codes: K42 N43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2015-02-05
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