Agricultural fires account for half as much burned biomass as forest fires. Like other forms of environmental degradation, burned biomass incurs social costs for society through its contribution to air pollution. One such potential cost is the increase in crime. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in air pollution due to increased rice stubble burning in Pakistan, I provide evidence on the causal relationship between air pollution and crime. Air pollution increases all crimes, but the increase in violent crimes is particularly salient. I provide evidence that a reduction in earnings for middle-aged and older male individuals is an important potential mechanism. I also discuss the potential psychological mechanisms involved. The social costs of burned agricultural biomass are much wider and have significant implications for developing economies that rely on agriculture.

农业火灾燃烧的生物量是森林火灾的一半。与其他形式的环境退化一样，燃烧生物质通过造成空气污染而给社会带来社会成本。其中一项潜在成本是犯罪率的增加。我利用巴基斯坦稻茬焚烧增加导致的空气污染的外生变化，提供了空气污染与犯罪之间因果关系的证据。空气污染增加了所有犯罪，但暴力犯罪的增加尤为突出。我提供的证据表明，中老年男性收入减少是一个重要的潜在机制。我还讨论了所涉及的潜在心理机制。燃烧农业生物质的社会成本要广泛得多，对依赖农业的发展中经济体具有重大影响。