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Broadband Internet and Crime

  • Ilaria Masiero EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 22. November 2023
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Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the impact of broadband diffusion on crime. I employ state-level data on high-speed Internet penetration and criminal activity in the United States from 2000 to 2012. To tackle the endogeneity of broadband diffusion, I rely on a set of technologically motivated instrumental variables. The outcomes show that the impact of high-speed Internet diffusion on crime is negative and it is not significant for more severe offenses. Concerning the underlying mechanism, I find support for the hypothesis that the broadband-driven crime reduction occurs through a voluntary incapacitation effect, as people change their leisure time allocation by spending more time at home and off the streets. This in turn reduces the availability of criminal opportunities – and crime levels. Finally, my results suggest that the voluntary incapacitation effect concerns both sides of criminal interactions.

JEL Classification: K42; K40

Corresponding author: Ilaria Masiero, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, E-mail:

This project has benefited from discussions with Rodrigo R. Soares, João Manoel Pinho de Mello, Leandro Piquet, Vladimir Ponczek, André Portela, Sérgio Firpo, and seminar participants at FGV-EESP, the 2nd UFJF Meeting on Applied Economics, the 38th SBE Meeting, and the 2017 SSES Congress. All remaining errors are my own.


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Received: 2022-10-04
Accepted: 2023-10-01
Published Online: 2023-11-22

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 28.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/rle-2022-0055/html
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