Work

The lead-crime hypothesis: a meta-analysis

Study pooling 542 estimates from 24 studies of lead and crime.

3 links, 0 backed by primary records

The debate

What it disputes

How lead exposure relates to temporal changes in IQ, violent crime, and unwed pregnancy 2022
Lead increases crime, but does not explain the majority of the fall in crime observed in some countries in the 20th century.1
Its abstract speaks of the literature and of the share of the fall in crime lead explains; it does not name this paper.
Environmental Policy as Social Policy? The Impact of Childhood Lead Exposure on Crime 2022
The effect of lead is overstated in the literature due to publication bias.1
Its abstract speaks of the literature, not of this paper by name.

Each side is quoted in its own words. Whether a finding holds is not decided here.

Connections 3

U.S. phase-out of leaded gasoline, 1973-1996 its estimate of how much of the fall in homicide lead abatement explains Scholarship & press 1

Timeline 3 dates

Proof 1 source

The lead-crime hypothesis: a meta-analysis (Regional Science and Urban Economics 97:103826), University of Glasgow (Enlighten), Elsevier, 21 Aug 2022. Scholarship & press
Lead increases crime, but does not explain the majority of the fall in crime observed in some countries in the 20th century.
The effect of lead is overstated in the literature due to publication bias.
Our estimates suggest the abatement of lead pollution may be responsible for 7–28% of the fall in homicide in the US.

Page history 1 change