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

Diffusion of Economic Shocks in the Labor Market: Evidence from a Mining Boom

Published in Labour Economics, 100, 102879. 2026. Joint with Jonna Rickardsson (Jönköping International Business School).

January 2026 · Gabriel Rodríguez-Puello, Jonna Rickardsson