Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/243237 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Economics Working Paper Series No. 2021/06
Publisher: 
Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, Auckland
Abstract: 
We focus on New Zealand's clean slate legislation to analyze whether automatic concealment of criminal records improves ex-offenders' labor market outcomes. Based on the legislation's eligibility requirements, we utilize detailed court charges information to identify comparable groups of ex-convicts who are subsequently linked to a population-wide tax register that documents monthly employment information. We use a difference-indifferences framework to compare clean slate-eligible individuals to former convicts who are approaching eligibility. Our analysis reveals that the clean slate scheme has no statistically relevant impact on employment propensity. However, we find a significant 2-2.5% increase in monthly wages during the post-implementation period.
Subjects: 
Clean Slate
Court Charges data
Monthly Tax Records
Conviction
Employment
Earnings
Difference-in-Differences
Tripledifference
JEL: 
C21
J08
K14
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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