Homelessness and crime: do your friends matter?

Abstract

This article investigates the influence of friends on crime, using data I collected among the homeless.To estimate the causal effects of friends and of the share of criminal friends on crime, I rely on twoinstruments. The first is the share of rainy days during one’s first year as homeless: rainfall fostershomeless concentration in sheltered places and increases the probability of interactions. The secondis the share of inmates released during one’s first year as homeless, which affects the supply ofcriminal friends. I find that one additional friend decreases the probability of incarceration butcriminal friends increases it.