From 2018... Adult entertainment establishments in NY City decrease daily sex crime between 7% & 13% with no effect on other types of crimes or in other precints; potential sex offenders become customers of the entertainment establishments

The Effects of Adult Entertainment Establishments on Sex Crime: Evidence from New York City. Riccardo Ciacci, Maria Micaela Sviatschi. Princeton Univ, Jun 2018. https://economics.princeton.edu/working-papers/the-effects-of-adult-entertainment-establishments-on-sex-crime-evidence-from-new-york-city/

Abstract: This paper studies how adult entertainment establishments affect sex crime. We build a daily panel that combines the exact location of non-reported sex crimes with the day of opening and exact location of adult entertainment establishments in New York City. We find that these businesses decrease daily sex crime between 7% and 13% in the precinct with no effect on other types of crimes. The results imply that the reduction is mostly driven by potential sex offenders that are now customers of the adult entertainment establishments. We also rule out other mechanisms such as an increase in the number of police officers; a reduction on the number of street prostitution and a possible reduction of potential victims in areas where these businesses opened. The effects are robust to using alternative measures of sex crimes.

Keywords: Sex crimes, rape, adult entertainment establishments, substitute services

JEL codes: I18, J16, J47, K14, K42

From 2018... The Effects of Adult Entertainment Establishments on Sex Crime