Digging for Trouble? Mining and Criminal Behavior of Young Males

Job Market Paper. I exploit the 2004 iron ore boom in northern Sweden to study how a large, positive local economic shock affects the criminal behavior of young males. Property crime convictions fell by 52% while substance-related convictions rose by 181%, showing that a boom can reduce crime while shifting part of it toward substance-related offending.

December 2026 · Gabriel Rodríguez-Puello