Does Wealth Inhibit Criminal Behavior? Evidence from Swedish Lottery Players and Their Children

David Cesarini, Erik Lindqvist, Östling, Robert and Christofer Schroeder
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Robert Östling

No 18649, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: There is a well-established negative gradient between economic status and crime, but its underlying causal mechanisms are not well understood. We use data on four Swedish lotteries matched to data on criminal convictions to gauge the causal effect of financial windfalls on player's own crime and their children's delinquency. We estimate a positive but statistically insignificant effect of lottery wealth on players' own conviction risk. Our estimates allow us to rule out effects one fifth as large as the cross-sectional gradient between income and crime. We also estimate a less precise null effect of parental lottery wealth on child delinquency.

Keywords: Economics of crime; Juvenile crime; Income and wealth inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-12
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