Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/185265 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11805
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Prior research shows reduced criminality to be a beneficial consequence of education policies that raise the school leaving age. This paper studies how crime reductions occurred in a sequence of state-level dropout age reforms enacted between 1980 and 2010 in the United States. These reforms changed the shape of crime-age profiles, reflecting both a temporary incapacitation effect and a more sustained, longer run crime reducing effect. In contrast to the previous research looking at earlier US education reforms, crime reduction does not arise solely as a result of education improvements, and so the observed longer run effect is interpreted as dynamic incapacitation. Additional evidence based on longitudinal data combined with an education reform from a different setting in Australia corroborates the finding of dynamic incapacitation underpinning education policy-induced crime reduction.
Subjects: 
crime age profiles
school dropout
compulsory schooling laws
JEL: 
I2
K42
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
1.36 MB





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