Understanding the Economic Impact of Gun Violence

• In Event: Utility of Gunshot Detection Technology in Exploring Crime Trends and Their Impact

Abstract

Gun violence, and the fear and perceived risk of gun violence, impose a wide array of social, psychological, and monetary costs on society. A wide array of studies from across the scientific disciplines document the direct and indirect economic, educational, psychological, and material harms that can arise from being victimized by or exposed to gun violence at the individual or societal level. However, noticeably absent from scholarship is an evaluation of the impact of gun violence on several crucial measures of neighborhood-level economic activity, specifically business creation, growth, and survival, and housing sales and prices. This mixed-methods study examines the neighborhood-level economic impact of surges in gun violence in six cities in the US with ShotSpotter©, National Establishment Time Series© data, data from a major credit bureau, and interviews with major stakeholders in neighborhoods of interest.

Authors

• Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, Urban Institute

• Samuel Bieler, Urban Institute

• Bing Bai, Urban Institute

• Annie Gurvis, Urban Institute