Under Pressure: Effects of Police Response Times on Repeat Victimization of Domestic Violence

Abstract : This paper investigates the causal effect of police response times on decisions re-garding domestic violence incidents. To victims of domestic violence, seeking formal support is costly. When they do so, the quality of initial formal interactions with po-lice emergency response teams may be determinant to victims' cooperation with the police. Using unique administrative data on 911 calls, we find that longer police re-sponse times decrease the likelihood of a repeat victimization report among first-time victims. We also show that longer response times raise legal attrition and lower the stringency of legal actions. To address endogeneity concerns, we exploit case-level variation in response times as a result of exogenous changes in capacity con-straints of officers attending other crimes taking place within the same hour. Our results show that police capacity constraints are determinant to the success of vic-tims' initial engagement with formal support systems.

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Culture Clash: Incompatible Reputation Systems and Intergroup Conflict

Abstract : Under which conditions does intergroup contact lead to conflict? We provide a novel answer to this question by highlighting the role of reputation mechanisms in sustaining cooperation. Punishment-based reputation (a “culture of honor”) and reputation based on image scoring (indirect reciprocity) can both deter defection in one-time interactions within groups. Yet these reputation mechanisms can be incompatible in intergroup interactions. Using a game theoretic model, we show that injecting pools of individuals from a punishment-based culture into a culture of image scoring can lead to widespread intergroup conflict. Cooperation is a more likely outcome if the cultures that interact use a similar reputation mechanism. The theoretical framework helps us explain a variety of phenomena, such as variation in immigrant crime rates and patterns of outgroup discrimination.

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Cultural Distance and Conflict-related Sexual Violence

Abstract : This paper examines the relationship between ethnic-based gender norms and conflict-related sexual violence. We generate a novel dyadic dataset that contains information on the ethnic identity of all the actors involved in ethnic civil conflicts in Africa between 1989 and 2009 and their use of sexual violence. We exploit ethnographic information to construct a new gender inequality index at the ethnicity level that captures deep-rooted gender norms. First, we find that gender-unequal armed actors are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual violence. Second, we consider the cultural distance in gender norms between the combatants. Applying a gravity approach, we find that sexual violence is driven by a specific clash of conceptions on the appropriate role of men and women in society: sexual violence increases when the perpetrator is more gender-unequal than the victim. These patterns are specific to sexual violence and do not explain general violence within a conflict. Differences in other cultural dimensions unrelated to gender are not associated with conflict-related sexual violence.

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