A Longitudinal Analysis of Crime and Energy Prices in Alberta

• In Event: Criminology of Place

Abstract

Little has been focused on the relationship between energy prices and levels of crime in Canada, despite Canada’s dependency on its natural resources. There have been numerous media reports on the high level of crime in these resource-based communities, however, not much have been substantiated by research. Social disorganization theory and routine activity theory are tested concurrently to examine whether either of these theories are strong predictors in explaining any crime patterns in Alberta. The current study explores the relationship between fluctuations in energy prices and crime rates in Alberta between the years 1998 to 2006. A fixed effects linear regression analysis is used to determine the association between crime rates and changes in both oil and natural gas prices while accounting for the lagged-effect. The study found a statistically significant positive relationship between energy prices and crime rates.

Authors

• Monica Ly, Simon Fraser University

• Martin Andresen, Simon Fraser University