Substance abuse treatment centers and local crime Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 2018 Elsevier Inc. In this paper we estimate the effects of expanding access to substance-abuse treatment on local crime. We do so using an identification strategy that leverages variation driven by substance-abuse-treatment facility openings and closings measured at the county level. The results indicate that substance-abuse-treatment facilities reduce both violent and financially motivated crimes in an area, and that the effects are particularly pronounced for relatively serious crimes. The effects on homicides are documented in two sources of homicide data and are concentrated in highly populated areas.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF URBAN ECONOMICS

altmetric score

  • 110.24

author list (cited authors)

  • Bondurant, S. R., Lindo, J. M., & Swensen, I. D.

citation count

  • 47

complete list of authors

  • Bondurant, Samuel R||Lindo, Jason M||Swensen, Isaac D

publication date

  • March 2018