Do Thieves React to Prices? - Evidence from Gas Stations

27 Pages Posted: 16 Oct 2015 Last revised: 8 Jan 2016

Date Written: October 15, 2015

Abstract

This study adds to the economic analysis of crime by examining whether fuel theft reacts to different fuel price levels. We cooperated with the State Office of Criminal Investigation Baden-Wuerttemberg and collected data on fuel theft. Thus, we have a unique data set with which we can investigate if and to what extend fuel theft reacts to different fuel price levels. We find that fuel price has a statistically significant positive effect on fuel theft. In the full model we include a lagged detection rate and unemployment as further time-variant variables and control for overall crime by including a crime index.

Keywords: economics of crime, price-theft hypothesis, deterrence hypothesis

JEL Classification: K42

Suggested Citation

Dengler-Roscher, Kathrin and Roscher, Thomas, Do Thieves React to Prices? - Evidence from Gas Stations (October 15, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2674651 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2674651

Kathrin Dengler-Roscher (Contact Author)

University of Ulm ( email )

Helmholzstrasse 18
Ulm, D-89081
Germany

Thomas Roscher

no affiliation ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
129
Abstract Views
1,176
Rank
397,421
PlumX Metrics