When the economy is hit, so is she? : an empirical analysis of the consequences of the oil price shock in 2014 on domestic violence in Norway

Abstract

This paper examines how the regional economic downturn following the oil price shock in 2014 affected domestic violence in Norway. In particular, we exploit the fact that the economic downturn in Norway following the oil price decline was largely regional. The counties that were hardest hit by the economic downturn following the oil price decline were the counties with the highest proportion of their workforce working in oil-related industries. We use a differences-in-differences strategy to identify the causal effects, and find that the number of people seeking counselling at domestic violence shelters increased in counties that were hit hard by the economic downturn. Specifically, we find that the regional economic downturn led to an additional 9.97 shelter users per 100,000 people each quarter in oil-dependent counties. This equals a 26 percent increase compared to the mean number of people seeking counselling at domestic violence shelters before the economic downturn. Wealsoexaminetheeffectofthedownturnonthenumberofpeople living temporarily at domestic violence shelters. The findings indicate a modestincrease,butthesignificanceoftheestimatesarehighlydependenton the model specification. We are therefore careful to conclude whether or not the regional economic downturn had an effect on people living temporarily at shelters.