By Charles C. Lanfear, David S. Kirk

Private short-term letting via Airbnb has exploded in the last decade, yet little is known about how this affects neighborhood crime rates. We estimate the association between Airbnb short-term letting activity and six types of police-reported crime in London, as well as an intervening mechanism, collective efficacy. We estimate these associations with maximum likelihood dynamic panel models with fixed effects (ML-SEM) using data on Airbnb lettings in 4,835 London neighborhoods observed for 13 calendar quarters. We explore mechanisms for the observed effects using multiple lag specifications and by disaggregating lettings into entire properties and spare rooms. We find that Airbnb activity is positively related to robbery, burglary, theft, and violence. These associations are attributable to lettings for entire properties rather than for rooms. Furthermore, associations are contemporaneous, as is consistent with an opportunity mechanism, rather than delayed, as would be consistent with a social control mechanism. Similarly, we find that the association between Airbnb activity and crime is not mediated by collective efficacy. Overall, these results suggest short-term letting contributes to neighborhood crime and these effects are more likely to be attributable to changes in criminal opportunity than erosion of neighborhood social control.

Criminology, Volume 62, Issue 4, 2024, pages 769-798

By Patricio Domínguez 

This paper models crime rates as a function of the interaction between potential offenders and victims. In particular, the paper studies robbery of bus drivers, a crime that remains common in cities throughout the world. Exploiting the timing of a significant reform introduced in Chile in the public transportation sector and detailed administrative data on crime incidents, the paper shows how victims' propensity to resist an attack can alter the level and nature of criminal activity. The paper also finds a large decline in crime after the implementation of a technological innovation that eliminated cash transactions on buses. The results suggest a strong relationship between victims incentives, cash presence, and crime.

Washington DC: IDB, 2020. 70p.

By  C.M. Hoeboer*, W.M. Kitselaar, J.F. Henrich, E.J. Miedzobrodzka, B. Wohlstetter, E. Giebels, G. Meynen, E.W. Kruisbergen, M. Kempes, M. Olff, C.H. de Kogel

COVID-19 caused a great burden on the healthcare system and led to lockdown measures across the globe. These measures are likely to influence crime rates, but a comprehensive overview on the impact of COVID-19 on crime rates is lacking. The aim of the current study was to systematically review evidence on the impact of COVID-19 measures on crime rates across the globe. We conducted a systematic search in several databases to identify eligible studies up until 6–12-2021. A total of 46 studies were identifed, reporting on 99 crime rates about robberies (n=12), property crime (n=15), drug crime (n=5), fraud (n=5), physical violence (n=15), sexual violence (n=11), homicides (n=12), cybercrime (n=3), domestic violence (n=3), intimate partner violence (n=14), and other crimes (n=4). Overall, studies showed that most types of crime temporarily declined during COVID-19 measures. Homicides and cybercrime were an exception to this rule and did not show significant changes following COVID-19 restrictions. Studies on domestic violence often found increased crime rates, and this was particularly true for studies based on call data rather than crime records. Studies on intimate partner violence reported mixed results. We found an immediate impact of COVID-19 restrictions on almost all crime rates except for homicides, cybercrimes and intimate partner violence.  

Published in American Journal of Criminal, Sociology, Political Science, Medicine November 2023