Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/180877 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
CHCP Working Paper No. 2016-3
Publisher: 
The University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP), London (Ontario)
Abstract: 
This paper estimates the effects of educational attainment and school quality on crime among American women. Using changes in compulsory schooling laws as instruments, we estimate significant effects of schooling attainment on the probability of incarceration using Census data from 1960-1980. Using data from the 1960-90 Uniform Crime Reports, we also estimate that increases in average schooling levels reduce arrest rates for violent and property crime but not white collar crime. The estimated reductions in crime for women are smaller in magnitude than comparable estimates for men; however, the effects for women are larger in percentage terms (relative to baseline crime rates). Our results suggest small and mixed direct effects of school quality (as measured by pupil-teacher ratios, term length, and teacher salaries) on incarceration and arrests. Finally, we show that the effects of education on crime for women is unlikely to be due to changes in labor market opportunities and may be more related to changes in marital opportunities and family formation.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
349.45 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.