Good Jobs and Recidivism

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Schnepel, Kevin T.
• 署名单位: University of Sydney; IZA Institute Labor Economics
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12415
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 447-469
• 关键词: UNITED-STATES; crime rates; Life-course; panel-data; unemployment; EMPLOYMENT; youth; times

摘要

I estimate the impact of employment opportunities on recidivism among 1.7million offenders released from a California prison between 1993 and 2008. The institutional structure of the California criminal justice system as well as location, skill, and industry-specific job accession data provide a unique framework for identifying a causal effect of job availability on criminal behaviour. I find that increases in construction and manufacturing opportunities at the time of release are associated with significant reductions in recidivism. Other types of opportunities, including those characterised by lower wages that are typically accessible to individuals with criminal records, do not influence recidivism.