Violent Video Games and Crime

Joost Impink, Patrick Kielty, Han Stice and Roger White

Journal of Media Economics, 2020, vol. 33, issue 3-4, 49-73

Abstract: This study examines the change in crime observed in the weeks following the release (exogenous shocks to video game play) of top-selling video games between 2006 and 2011. We find that the release of violent (Mature-rated) video games is associated with an increase in overall crime in the weeks following release. Crime increases for both youth and adults following blockbuster Mature-rated releases, but the increase in crime among youth is approximately four times greater (8%) than the increase among adults (2%). Conversely, we find that the release of best-selling nonviolent (Everyone-rated) video games is not associated with a change in crime in the weeks directly following the release. Our results suggest that the release of violent video games increases crime in the United States, at least in the short-term, especially among the under-17 population for whom Mature-rated games are explicitly labeled as not “suitable.” Interestingly, our results are completely moderated in U.S. counties that forbid alcohol sales, which suggests that alcohol is a necessary channel through which exposure to violent video games contributes to crime.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08997764.2021.2008409 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jmedec:v:33:y:2020:i:3-4:p:49-73

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/HMEC20

DOI: 10.1080/08997764.2021.2008409

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Media Economics is currently edited by Nodir Adilov

More articles in Journal of Media Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().