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Lost Boys: Access to Secondary Education and Crime

Author

Listed:
  • Huttunen, Kristiina
  • Pekkarinen, Tuomas
  • Uusitalo, Roope
  • Virtanen, Hanna
Abstract
We study the effect of post-compulsory education on crime by exploiting a regression discontinuity design generated by admission cut-offs to upper secondary schools in Finland. We combine data on school applications with data on criminal convictions and follow individuals for 10 years. Our results show that successful applicants are less likely to commit crimes during the first five years after admission. Crime is reduced both during and outside the school year, indicating that the channel through which schooling affects crime cannot be explained by incapacitation alone. We find no effect on crime committed after 6 years from admission.

Suggested Citation

  • Huttunen, Kristiina & Pekkarinen, Tuomas & Uusitalo, Roope & Virtanen, Hanna, 2019. "Lost Boys: Access to Secondary Education and Crime," ETLA Working Papers 64, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:rif:wpaper:64
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey R. Kling & Jens Ludwig & Lawrence F. Katz, 2005. "Neighborhood Effects on Crime for Female and Male Youth: Evidence from a Randomized Housing Voucher Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(1), pages 87-130.
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    8. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D. Cattaneo & Rocio Titiunik, 2014. "Robust Nonparametric Confidence Intervals for Regression‐Discontinuity Designs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82, pages 2295-2326, November.
    9. Tony Beatton & Michael P. Kidd & Stephen Machin & Dipa Sarkar, 2016. "Larrikin youth: new evidence on crime and schooling," CEP Discussion Papers dp1456, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2003. "Are Idle Hands the Devil's Workshop? Incapacitation, Concentration, and Juvenile Crime," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1560-1577, December.
    11. Lance Lochner & Enrico Moretti, 2004. "The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 155-189, March.
    12. Lance Lochner, 2010. "Non-Production Benefits of Education: Crime, Health and Good Citizenship," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 20107, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    13. Philip J. Cook & Songman Kang, 2016. "Birthdays, Schooling, and Crime: Regression-Discontinuity Analysis of School Performance, Delinquency, Dropout, and Crime Initiation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 33-57, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tiina Kuuppelomäki, 2021. "School selectivity and mental health: Evidence from regression discontinuity design," Working Papers 333, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    2. Mikko Silliman & Hanna Virtanen, 2022. "Labor Market Returns to Vocational Secondary Education," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 197-224, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crime; Education; School admission; Incapacitation; Human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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