Ramadan and Sexual Crime: Unveiling Temporal Patterns and Behavioral Shifts in U.S. Counties with Muslim Presence
Date
2024-12
Authors
Narciso, Joaquín Ignacio
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Gibbons, Amelia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía
Abstract
We exploit daily variation in reported criminal activity to estimate the causal effect of Ramadan on sex offenses in U.S. counties with Muslim presence from 2010 up to 2022. Using an OLS regression framework, we include county, yearly, weekly and day of the week fixed effects while leveraging the exogenous variation provided by the shifting start dates of Ramadan. Our findings reveal no significant evidence that Ramadan affects the overall average of sex offenses in Muslim-populated counties. We argue that these results are more likely driven by a genuine absence of an effect or a slight substitution effect between crimes committed during the day and night, rather than a lack of statistical power.
Description
Fil: Narciso, Joaquín Ignacio. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.