Understanding Interpersonal Violence: the Impact of Temperatures in Mexico

Francois Cohen and Fidel Gonzalez

INET Oxford Working Papers from Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

Abstract: We estimate the effect of temperature on criminality in Mexico and question conventional wisdom that high temperatures impact human psychology. Using high-frequency data, we find a linear effect of temperatures on criminality, inconsistent with the belief that only high temperatures cause disturbances. A significant share of weather-related crimes can be explained by higher alcohol consumption (9%) and changes in time allocation during weekends (17%). Also, 28% of weather-related crimes are committed at night, when temperatures are mild, and a third is driven by short-term displacements, causing no additional victim.

Keywords: extreme weather events; temperature; criminality; distributed lag model; routine activity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K42 K49 Q54 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 67 pages
Date: 2018-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Understanding interpersonal violence: the impact of temperatures in Mexico (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:amz:wpaper:2018-01

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