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. 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.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Behrer, A. Patrick, Bolotnyy, Valentin
Format: Working Paper biblioteca
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2022-01
Subjects:VIOLENT CRIME, HOT DAY, HIGH TEMPERATURE,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/205651643052206856/Heat-Crime-and-Punishment
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36881
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id dig-okr-1098636881
record_format koha
spelling dig-okr-10986368812022-01-28T05:10:37Z 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
institution Banco Mundial
collection DSpace
country Estados Unidos
countrycode US
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-okr
tag biblioteca
region America del Norte
libraryname Biblioteca del Banco Mundial
language English
topic VIOLENT CRIME
HOT DAY
HIGH TEMPERATURE
VIOLENT CRIME
HOT DAY
HIGH TEMPERATURE
spellingShingle VIOLENT CRIME
HOT DAY
HIGH TEMPERATURE
VIOLENT CRIME
HOT DAY
HIGH TEMPERATURE
Behrer, A. Patrick
Bolotnyy, Valentin
Heat, Crime, and Punishment
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
topic_facet VIOLENT CRIME
HOT DAY
HIGH TEMPERATURE
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 2022-01
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/205651643052206856/Heat-Crime-and-Punishment
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36881
work_keys_str_mv AT behrerapatrick heatcrimeandpunishment
AT bolotnyyvalentin heatcrimeandpunishment
_version_ 1756576038349963264