Cash in the Darkness

56 Pages Posted: 5 Jul 2023 Last revised: 28 May 2024

See all articles by Haohan Ren

Haohan Ren

School of Management, Fudan University

Kemin Wang

Fudan University - School of Management

Bohui Zhang

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Fan Zhang

Jinan University; University of International Business and Economics (UIBE)

Date Written: July 2, 2023

Abstract

Relying on a large dataset on cash withdrawals of over 165 million bank cards from China, we find that a higher ratio of cash withdrawals occurring late at night is associated with more criminal activities. The effect is stronger for crimes that are more involved in nighttime cash transactions but is muted for cash withdrawals occurring during the day or for civil disputes and non-nighttime-cash-intensive criminal cases. When testing the temporal sequence between nighttime cash withdrawals and criminal events, we find that nighttime cash withdrawals on average lag behind crime events by one day. Moreover, the proportion of cash withdrawals at night significantly decreases during exogenous anti-crime events but increases after the ban of cryptocurrencies. Overall, our study suggests that the use of cash at night plays an important role in fueling criminal activities.

Keywords: Crimes, The Use of Cash, Payment Methods

JEL Classification: D12, E41, G50, K40

Suggested Citation

Ren, Haohan and Wang, Kemin and Zhang, Bohui and Zhang, Fan, Cash in the Darkness (July 2, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4497793 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4497793

Haohan Ren (Contact Author)

School of Management, Fudan University ( email )

No. 670, Guoshun Road
No.670 Guoshun Road
Shanghai, 200433
China

Kemin Wang

Fudan University - School of Management ( email )

No. 670, Guoshun Road
Shanghai, 200433
China

Bohui Zhang

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen ( email )

Fan Zhang

Jinan University ( email )

Huang Pu Da Dao Xi 601, Tian He District
Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632
China

University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) ( email )

10 Huixin East St.
Beijing, Beijing 100029
China

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