RESEARCH
PUBLICATIONS
Articles
Dominguez, M. and Montolio, D. (2021). Bolstering community ties as a means of reducing crime. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 191:916–945.
Aboal, D., Lanzilotta, B., Dominguez, M. and Vairo, M. (2016). The Cost of Crime and Violence in Five Latin American Countries. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 22(4):689-711.
Other publications
Dominguez, M. and Montolio, D. (2022). Social prevention of crime: alternatives to policing measures in an urban context. In P. Buonanno, J.F. Vargas, and P. Vanin (Eds.) A Modern Guide to Economics of Crime. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Dominguez, M. (2022). Gäng, nätverk och brott – lärdomar för Sverige. Ekonomisk Debatt, 50(4):55-65.
WORKING PAPERS
Sweeping up gangs: the effects of tough-on-crime policies from a network approach
(Job Market Paper. Revisions requested)
Gang proliferation is mainly fought worldwide with sweeps. In this paper, I study their causal effect on crime for arrested individuals and their peers following a difference-in-differences strategy. I perform this analysis in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, which experienced a stark policy change. Results show significant reductions in crime among arrested individuals and peers, and swept areas benefit from improvements in crime, health, and education. Lastly, a counterfactual exercise indicates that sweeps could have decreased crime by 50 pp. more had they arrested a broader set of key players. Consequently, using network analysis could improve policy design.
Behind closed doors: Crime composition in gang territory
(with Daniel Montolio)
Gang activity is a big concern in many cities nowadays. Besides the worrisome involvement in local crime, concerns are exacerbated as they cause distress to residents. This paper identifies fine-grained gang presence in an urban area in a developed country. To do so, we use registered crimes in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona attributed to local gang members. We also analyze crime composition changes by exploiting a regression discontinuity method around gang boundaries. We find that the number of crimes is not significantly different. However, there are significant differences in its composition. Inside gang areas, there is a larger share of crimes against the person and male offenders to female victims.
Neighborhood Labeling and Youth Schooling Paths
(with Hans Grönqvist and Torsten Santavirta)
In 2015, the Swedish police unexpectedly published their internal list identifying "vulnerable areas." The public release of the list gave rise to a significant increase in media reports about the listed neighborhoods that often portrayed them negatively. Yet, it did not lead to considerable police interventions regarding resources or public effort. Exploiting geocoded data on the police list, neighborhoods, and schools, we explore how the release affected the performance and sorting of students completing compulsory school and applying to high schools. Our research strategy compares the change in the outcomes of individuals living in listed neighborhoods with those in non-listed areas with comparable sociodemographic characteristics. Our main finding is that listing a neighborhood did not affect student performance but substantially increased sorting. Students from listed neighborhoods were less likely to sort into high schools with peers from high-SES backgrounds and were more likely to sort into high schools within their neighborhoods. Our results are consistent with models of neighborhood labeling wherein residents in neighborhoods with a negative public image adjust their behavior in response to anticipated or actual discrimination.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Peer networks and entrepreneurship: a Pan-African RCT (with Fernando Vega-Redondo, Paolo Pin, Diego Ubfal, Cristiana Benedetti-Fasil, Charles Brummitt, Gaia Rubera, Dirk Hovy, Tommaso Fornaciari).
Givers or takers? The roles of tourists in crime (with Miquel-Àngel García-López, Rodrigo Martínez-Mazza and Daniel Montolio).
When the godfather is no longer the wanted one: A key player analysis with heterogenous catching costs (with Melika Liporace).