Title
Are uber really to blame for sexual assault?: evidence from New York city.
Abstract
With the boom of ride-sharing platforms, there has been a growing debate on ride-sharing regulations. In particular, allegations of rape against ride-sharing drivers put sexual assault at the center of this debate. However, there is no systematic and society-wide evidence regarding ride-sharing and sexual assault. Building on a theory of crime victimization, this study examines the effect of ride-sharing on sexual assault incidents using comprehensive data on Uber transactions and crime incidents in New York City over the period from January to March 2015. Our findings demonstrate that the Uber availability is negatively associated with the likelihood of rape, after controlling for endogeneity. Moreover, the deterrent effect of Uber on sexual assault is entirely driven by the taxi-sparse areas, namely outside Manhattan. This study sheds light on the potential of ride-sharing platforms and sharing economy to improve social welfare beyond economic gains.
Year
DOI
Venue
2016
10.1145/2971603.2971615
ICEC
Field
DocType
Citations 
Endogeneity,Computer science,Blame,Sharing economy,Criminology,Law,Boom,Marketing,Social Welfare
Conference
1
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.40
2
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Jiyong Park14011.02
Junetae Kim211.08
Byungtae Lee340158.02