Abstract The effect of climatic variation on conflict and crime is well established, but less is known about the mechanism through which this effect operates. This study contributes to the literature by exploiting a new source of exogenous variation in climate to study the effect of fishermen's income opportunities on sea piracy. Using satellite data to construct a monthly measure of local fishing conditions it is found that better income opportunities reduce piracy. A wide range of approaches are employed to ensure that these effects are driven by income opportunities rather than other mechanisms through which climate could affect piracy. (JEL D74, J31, K42, O13, O17, Q22, Q54)

Citation Axbard, Sebastian. 2016. "Income Opportunities and Sea Piracy in Indonesia: Evidence from Satellite Data." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , 8 (2): 154-94 . DOI: 10.1257/app.20140404 Choose Format: BibTeX EndNote Refer/BibIX RIS Tab-Delimited