Research Seminar in Economics: Asian Gold: Expected Returns to Crime and Thieves Behaviour
Abstract:
Where are crimes committed? We explore how variations in the expected returns to crime affects the location of burglaries in the UK. Our identify- cation strategy relies on the common perception in the UK that families of South Asian descent store a substantial amount of gold jewellery. Move- ments on the international market for gold affect the expected gains from targeting these households, and consequently the location of burglaries. Us- ing a neighbourhood level panel on reported crime, we find that when the price of gold increases, neighbourhoods with a larger share of South Asian households face a disproportionate increase in property crime relative to other neighbourhoods in the same local authority. We conduct a battery of tests to eliminate alternative explanations.
Arnaud Chevalier is a Professor of Economics at Royal Holloway. He received his PhD from Birmingham University and worked at Keele university, LSE, UCD and University of Kent before coming to Royal Holloway.
The Seminar will be held digitally. To receive the event details and invitation link, please sign up here.Zeit & Ort
06.05.2021 | 12:15 - 13:30
Online Presentation