Economic fluctuation and crime: a time-series analysis of the effects of oil development in the coastal regions of Louisiana

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between patterns of crime and the development of the oil and gas extraction industry in the coastal regions of Louisiana using pooled time-series analysis. The suggestion of a link between these phenomena has often been made, but little systematic research has been conducted to determine if there is indeed a crime–oil development nexus. Limited previous research has focused primarily on the issue of “boom and bust” cycles on some forms of deviant behavior, but the data and the methods used were inadequate, and thus, the resulting conclusions were often misleading or possibly erroneous. The results from the analysis suggest that changes in oil activity and high levels of labor market involvement in the offshore oil industry are neither strongly nor consistently associated with community disruption in the form of crime.