%0 Report
        %A Bhuller, Manudeep
%A Havnes, Tarjei
%A Leuven, Edwin
%A Mogstad, Magne
        %T Broadband Internet: An Information Superhighway to Sex Crime?
        %D 2011
        %8 2011 Apr
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 5675
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp5675
        %X Does internet use trigger sex crime? We use unique Norwegian data on crime and internet adoption to shed light on this question. A public program with limited funding rolled out broadband access points in 2000-2008, and provides plausibly exogenous variation in internet use. Our instrumental variables and fixed effect estimates show that internet use is associated with a substantial increase in reported incidences of rape and other sex crimes. We present a theoretical framework that highlights three mechanisms for how internet use may affect reported sex crime, namely a reporting effect, a matching effect on potential offenders and victims, and a direct effect on crime propensity. Our results indicate that the direct effect is non-negligible and positive, plausibly as a result of increased consumption of pornography.
        %K pornography
%K sex crimes
%K instrumental variables
%K broadband
%K rape
%K internet