Guns and violence: The enduring impact of crack cocaine markets on young black males

William Evans, Craig Garthwaite and Timothy Moore

Journal of Public Economics, 2022, vol. 206, issue C

Abstract: The violence associated with crack cocaine markets in the 1980s and 1990s has repercussions today. Using cross-city variation in when crack cocaine arrived and an older comparison group, we estimate that the US murder rate of black males aged 15–24 was still 70 percent higher 17 years after crack markets had emerged. Using the fraction of gun-related suicides as a proxy for gun availability, we find that increased access to guns led to persistently higher murder rates. Our estimates imply that more guns due to crack-related violence explains approximately one-tenth of the current life-expectancy gap between white and black males.

Keywords: Crack cocaine; Drug epidemics; Homicide; Murder; Guns; Black males; Life expectancy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Guns and Violence: The Enduring Impact of Crack Cocaine Markets on Young Black Males (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:206:y:2022:i:c:s0047272721002176

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104581

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