Did cybercrime cause the crime drop?

Crime Sci. 2018;7(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s40163-018-0082-8. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Abstract

Recent studies have hypothesised that the international crime drop was the result of the rise in cybercrime. We subject this 'cybercrime hypothesis' to critical assessment. We find significant evidence and argument indicating that cybercrime could not have caused the crime drop, and so we reject the cybercrime hypothesis.

Keywords: Crime decline; Crime drop; Cybercrime; Displacement; Internet fraud; Offender adaptation; Security hypothesis.