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Juvenile crime and punishment: evidence from Japan

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  • Tatsushi Oka
Abstract
Over the last decade, juvenile crime has become a serious social problem in Japan. The Juvenile Law was revised in 2001 to impose harsher punishment on juvenile offenders. This revision makes it possible to impose criminal punishment on 14- and 15-year-old criminal offenders, while those offenders aged 16-19 have always faced criminal punishment, both before and after the revision. Using this revision as a natural experiment, this study conducts a difference-in-differences estimation to examine the effect of punishment on juvenile crime. The analysis provides evidence that punishment can deter juvenile crime. In addition, this research examines the criminal behaviour of 13-year-olds, who face no change in punishment, but who soon will in the near future. The results suggest that the revision also had a negative impact on the criminal behaviour of these younger offenders.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatsushi Oka, 2009. "Juvenile crime and punishment: evidence from Japan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(24), pages 3103-3115.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:41:y:2009:i:24:p:3103-3115
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840701365923
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    1. Ignacio Munyo, 2015. "The Juvenile Crime Dilemma," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(2), pages 201-211, April.
    2. Ando, Michihito & Mori, Hiroaki & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2022. "Universal early childhood education and adolescent risky behavior," SocArXiv rnkgs, Center for Open Science.
    3. Cristiano M. Costa & Luciana D. Costa & Renata C. Gomes, 2015. "Family member incarceration and delinquent behaviour in the classroom: evidence from Brazil," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 411-415, March.
    4. Michihito Ando & Hiroaki Mori & Shintaro Yamaguchi, 2022. "Universal Early Childhood Education and Adolescent Risky Behavior," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2218, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    5. Ando, Michihito & Mori, Hiroaki & Yamaguchi, Shintaro, 2022. "Universal Early Childhood Education and Adolescent Risky Behavior," IZA Discussion Papers 15531, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Marcelo Castro & Cesar Tirso, 2023. "The impacts of the age of majority on the exposure to violent crimes," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 983-1023, February.

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