Weather shocks, poverty and crime in 18th-century Savoy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9813766
AutoresCédric Chambru (0000-0003-2690-1408, University of Zurich, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen78
Páginas101353
Fecha de publicación2020-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaExplorations in Economic History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0014-4983 • E-ISSN: 1090-2457
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101353
OpenAlexW2964000994
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas62

Did weather shocks increase interpersonal conflict in early modern Europe? I address this question by exploiting year-to-year seasonal variations in temperature and detailed crime data assembled from Savoyard criminal procedures over the period 1749–92. I find that temperature shocks had a positive and significant effect on the level of property crimes, but a negative and significant effect on violent crimes. I further document how seasonal migration helped to increase the coping capacity of local communities. Indeed, migrant labour both brought in remittances that supplemented communities’ resources, as well as temporarily relieved impoverished households of the burden of feeding these workers. I show that while temperature shocks were strongly associated with an increase in property crime rates, the effect was much lower in provinces with high levels of seasonal migration. I provide historical evidence demonstrating that the inflow of remittances may have driven this relationship

Coping (psychology · Criminology · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Inflow · Poverty · Property crime · Sociology · Violent crime · Agricultural risk and resilience · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Psychology · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology