Heat, Crime, and Punishment
Using administrative criminal records from Texas, this paper shows how heat affects criminal defendants, police officers, prosecutors, and judges. It finds that arrests increase by up to 15 percent on hot days, driven by increases in violent crime....
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/205651643052206856/Heat-Crime-and-Punishment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36881 |
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okr-10986-368812022-01-28T05:10:37Z Heat, Crime, and Punishment Behrer, A. Patrick Bolotnyy, Valentin VIOLENT CRIME HOT DAY HIGH TEMPERATURE Using administrative criminal records from Texas, this paper shows how heat affects criminal defendants, police officers, prosecutors, and judges. It finds that arrests increase by up to 15 percent on hot days, driven by increases in violent crime. There is no evidence that charging-day heat impacts prosecutorial decisions. However, working alone, judges dismiss fewer cases, issue longer prison sentences, and levy higher fines when ruling on hot days. Higher incomes, newer housing, more teamwork, and less accessible weapons may decrease these adverse effects of heat. Even with adaptation, the paper forecasts that climate change will increase crime and have substantial distributional consequences. 2022-01-27T14:04:44Z 2022-01-27T14:04:44Z 2022-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/205651643052206856/Heat-Crime-and-Punishment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36881 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9909 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper United States |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
VIOLENT CRIME HOT DAY HIGH TEMPERATURE |
| spellingShingle |
VIOLENT CRIME HOT DAY HIGH TEMPERATURE Behrer, A. Patrick Bolotnyy, Valentin Heat, Crime, and Punishment |
| geographic_facet |
United States |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9909 |
| description |
Using administrative criminal records
from Texas, this paper shows how heat affects criminal
defendants, police officers, prosecutors, and judges. It
finds that arrests increase by up to 15 percent on hot days,
driven by increases in violent crime. There is no evidence
that charging-day heat impacts prosecutorial decisions.
However, working alone, judges dismiss fewer cases, issue
longer prison sentences, and levy higher fines when ruling
on hot days. Higher incomes, newer housing, more teamwork,
and less accessible weapons may decrease these adverse
effects of heat. Even with adaptation, the paper forecasts
that climate change will increase crime and have substantial
distributional consequences. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Behrer, A. Patrick Bolotnyy, Valentin |
| author_facet |
Behrer, A. Patrick Bolotnyy, Valentin |
| author_sort |
Behrer, A. Patrick |
| title |
Heat, Crime, and Punishment |
| title_short |
Heat, Crime, and Punishment |
| title_full |
Heat, Crime, and Punishment |
| title_fullStr |
Heat, Crime, and Punishment |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Heat, Crime, and Punishment |
| title_sort |
heat, crime, and punishment |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/205651643052206856/Heat-Crime-and-Punishment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36881 |
| _version_ |
1764486088966012928 |