It's the Phone, Stupid: Mobiles and Murder

Lena Edlund () and Cecilia Machado

No 25883, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: US homicide rates fell sharply in the early 1990s, a decade that also saw the mainstreaming of cell phones – a concurrence that may be more than a coincidence, we propose. Cell phones may have undercut turf-based street dealing, thus undermining drug-dealing profits of street gangs, entities known to engage in violent crime. Studying county-level data for the years 1970-2009 we find that the expansion of cellular phone service (as proxied by antenna-structure density) lowered homicide rates in the 1990s. Furthermore, effects were concentrated in urban counties; among Black or Hispanic males; and more gang/drug-associated homicides.

JEL-codes: I0 I18 R0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-law, nep-pay and nep-ure
Note: EH LS PE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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