IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/soecon/v82y2016i4p1247-1265.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Violent Video Games and Violent Crime

Author

Listed:
  • Scott Cunningham
  • Benjamin Engelstätter
  • Michael R. Ward

Abstract

Video games are an increasingly popular leisure activity. As many best‐selling games contain hyper‐realistic violence, many researchers and policymakers have hypothesized that violent games cause violent behaviors. Laboratory experiments have found evidence suggesting that violent video games increase aggression. Before drawing policy conclusions about the effect of violent games on actual behavior, these experimental studies should be subjected to tests of external validity. Our study uses a quasi‐experimental methodology to identify the short‐run and medium‐run effects of violent game sales on violent crime using time variation in retail unit sales data of the top 30 selling video games and violent criminal offenses from both the Uniform Crime Report and the National Incident‐Based Reporting System from 2005 to 2011. We find no evidence of an increase in crime associated with video games and perhaps a decrease.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Cunningham & Benjamin Engelstätter & Michael R. Ward, 2016. "Violent Video Games and Violent Crime," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(4), pages 1247-1265, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:82:y:2016:i:4:p:1247-1265
    DOI: 10.1002/soej.12139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/soej.12139
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/soej.12139?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brian Jacob & Lars Lefgren & Enrico Moretti, 2007. "The Dynamics of Criminal Behavior: Evidence from Weather Shocks," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    2. Harikesh Nair, 2007. "Intertemporal price discrimination with forward-looking consumers: Application to the US market for console video-games," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 239-292, September.
    3. David Card & Gordon B. Dahl, 2011. "Family Violence and Football: The Effect of Unexpected Emotional Cues on Violent Behavior," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 103-143.
    4. Stinebrickner Ralph & Stinebrickner Todd R., 2008. "The Causal Effect of Studying on Academic Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-55, June.
    5. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 267-288.
    6. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2003. "Are Idle Hands the Devil's Workshop? Incapacitation, Concentration, and Juvenile Crime," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1560-1577, December.
    7. Grogger, Jeff, 1998. "Market Wages and Youth Crime," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(4), pages 756-791, October.
    8. Gordon Dahl & Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Does Movie Violence Increase Violent Crime?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 677-734.
    9. M. J. Koepp & R. N. Gunn & A. D. Lawrence & V. J. Cunningham & A. Dagher & T. Jones & D. J. Brooks & C. J. Bench & P. M. Grasby, 1998. "Evidence for striatal dopamine release during a video game," Nature, Nature, vol. 393(6682), pages 266-268, May.
    10. Michael R. Ward, 2011. "Video Games And Crime," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(2), pages 261-273, April.
    11. repec:wvu:wpaper:09-09 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rhys Murrian & Paul A. Raschky & Klaus Ackermann, 2024. "Friends, Key Players and the Adoption and Use of Experience Goods," Monash Economics Working Papers 2024-17, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    2. Lindo, Jason M. & Swensen, Isaac D. & Waddell, Glen R., 2022. "Effects of violent media content: Evidence from the rise of the UFC," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Hamida Mubasshera, 2024. "Pornography usage during adolescence: Does it lead to risky sexual behavior?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1682-1704, August.
    4. Jetter, Michael & Walker, Jay K., 2022. "News coverage and mass shootings in the US," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    5. Chung, Andy & Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Singleton, Carl & Wang, Zhengxin & Zhang, Junsen, 2024. "Looks and Gaming: Who and Why?," IZA Discussion Papers 17191, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Ana Ruiz-Fernández & Miriam Junco-Guerrero & David Cantón-Cortés, 2021. "Exploring the Mediating Effect of Psychological Engagement on the Relationship between Child-to-Parent Violence and Violent Video Games," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Hiroyuki Egami & Md. Shafiur Rahman & Tsuyoshi Yamamoto & Chihiro Egami & Takahisa Wakabayashi, 2024. "Causal effect of video gaming on mental well-being in Japan 2020–2022," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(10), pages 1943-1956, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cunningham, A. Scott & Engelstätter, Benjamin & Ward, Michael R., 2011. "Understanding the effects of violent video games on violent crime," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-042, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Ryan Copus & Hannah Laqueur, 2019. "Entertainment as Crime Prevention: Evidence From Chicago Sports Games," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(3), pages 344-370, April.
    3. Olivier Marie, 2016. "Police and thieves in the stadium: measuring the (multiple) effects of football matches on crime," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 179(1), pages 273-292, January.
    4. Heaton, Paul, 2012. "Sunday liquor laws and crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 42-52.
    5. David Card & Gordon B. Dahl, 2011. "Family Violence and Football: The Effect of Unexpected Emotional Cues on Violent Behavior," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 103-143.
    6. Suziedelyte, Agne, 2021. "Is it only a game? Video games and violence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 105-125.
    7. Lagomarsino, Bruno Cardinale & Rossi, Martin A., 2024. "JUE insight: The unintended effect of Argentina's subsidized homeownership lottery program on intimate partner violence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Jason M. Lindo & Charles Stoecker, 2014. "Drawn Into Violence: Evidence On “What Makes A Criminal” From The Vietnam Draft Lotteries," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 239-258, January.
    9. Simon Planells Struse & Daniel Montolio, 2014. "The effect of football matches on crime patterns in Barcelona," ERSA conference papers ersa14p1606, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Brian Bell & Rui Costa & Stephen Machin, 2022. "Why Does Education Reduce Crime?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(3), pages 732-765.
    11. D'Este, Rocco, 2014. "The Effect of Stolen Goods Markets on Crime: Evidence from a Quasi Natural Experiment," Economic Research Papers 270415, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    12. Lindo, Jason M. & Swensen, Isaac D. & Waddell, Glen R., 2022. "Effects of violent media content: Evidence from the rise of the UFC," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Perrotta Berlin, Maria & Gerrell, Manne, 2022. "Economic Determinants of Intimate Partner Violence: The Case of Sweden during Covid-19," SITE Working Paper Series 60, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.
    14. Montolio, Daniel & Planells-Struse, Simón, 2016. "How time shapes crime: The temporal impacts of football matches on crime," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 99-113.
    15. Stephen Machin & Olivier Marie & Sunčica Vujić, 2011. "The Crime Reducing Effect of Education," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 463-484, May.
    16. Ceren Baysan & Marshall Burke & Felipe González & Solomon Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2018. "Economic and Non-Economic Factors in Violence: Evidence from Organized Crime, Suicides and Climate in Mexico," NBER Working Papers 24897, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Ana Tur-Prats, 2017. "Unemployment and intimate-partner violence: A gender-identity approach," Economics Working Papers 1564, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    18. Meghir, Costas & Palme, Mårten & Schnabel, Marieke, 2011. "The Effect of Education Policy on Crime: An Intergenerational Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 6142, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Tony Beatton & Michael P. Kidd & Matteo Sandi, 2020. "School indiscipline and crime," CEP Discussion Papers dp1727, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. Sebastian Galiani & Martín A. Rossi & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2011. "Conscription and Crime: Evidence from the Argentine Draft Lottery," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 119-136, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:82:y:2016:i:4:p:1247-1265. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2325-8012 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.