From prison peers to co-offenders

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Johnsen, Julian Vedeler; Khoury, Laura
• 署名单位: University of Bergen
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2026.105756
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: crime; networks

摘要

This paper provides direct evidence that shared incarceration can facilitate the formation of post-release criminal partnerships. Using Norwegian administrative data linking prison spells to police case identifiers, we measure network ties through subsequent co-offending. We exploit time-based variation in exposure within facilities by comparing inmate pairs in the same facility who differ only in whether their spells overlapped. Overlap is as sociated with a 37% increase in five-year co-offending relative to comparable non-overlapping pairs, robust to extensive controls and timing-based restrictions. Effects are stronger in environments and for pairs where interaction is plausibly more intense, highlighting network formation as a plausible mechanism.