Citation

Insler MA, McMurrey B, McQuoid AF. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 2019; 163: 43-62.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jebo.2019.04.012

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Expansion of police militarization in the U.S. raises questions about how such policing affects society and minority communities. We estimate the impact of one particular aspect of police militarization--the Department of Defense's Excess Property Program 1033--on civic engagement--which we capture primarily by examining charitable giving among households--via an instrumental variables approach. The instrument stems from plausibly exogenous variation in federal defense spending, which affects awareness of military culture and capabilities, and thus encourages the adoption of military equipment and tactics by local police departments. Estimates show that the 1033 Program has a fragmenting effect on society: As the transfer of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement increases, black households reduce their total charitable donations more than all other households.

Language: en

Keywords

1033 Program; Charitable giving; Civic engagement; Excess property program; Police militarization; Social fragmentation