Crime on the move? The effect of ridesharing services on crime

Abstract The rapid expansion of ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft has transformed urban transportation, yet their effects on crime remain underexplored. Leveraging a natural experiment from their staggered rollout across U.S. cities, this study examines how ridesharing influences crime rates. Using a two‐way fixed effects model, I find that ridesharing services reduce violent crimes by 4.6%, property crimes by 5.6%, and burglaries by 10.5%, while the baseline estimates show no significant effects on larceny, motor vehicle theft, or arson. Exploring potential mechanisms, I show that improved employment opportunities generated by ridesharing platforms play a key role in these crime reductions.