Education, Work, and Crime: A Human Capital Approach

Lochner, Lance

doi:10.3386/w10478

Cited by 91 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“… 5 This intuition is similar to that of Lochner [2004], who considers how human-capital investments affect criminal activity. …”

mentioning

confidence: 71%

Forward-thinking teens: The effects of college costs on adolescent risky behavior

Cowan

2011

Economics of Education Review

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This paper analyzes the effect of college costs on teenagers’ engagement in risky behaviors before they are old enough to attend college. Individuals with brighter prospects for future schooling attainment may engage in less drug and alcohol use and risky sexual activity because they have more to lose if such behaviors have harmful effects in their lives. If teens correctly predict that higher college costs make future college enrollment less likely, then adolescents facing different expected costs may choose different levels of risky behavior. I find that lower college costs in teenagers’ states of residence raise their subjective expectations regarding college attendance and deter teenage substance use and sexual partnership. Specifically, a $1,000 reduction in tuition and fees at two-year colleges in a youth’s state of residence (roughly a 50% difference at the mean) is associated with a decline in the number of sexual partners the youth had in the past year (by 26%), the number of days in the past month the youth smoked (by 14%), and the number of days in the past month the youth used marijuana (by 23%). These findings suggest that the often-studied correlation between schooling and health habits emerges in adolescence because teenagers with brighter college prospects curb their risky behavior in accordance with their expectations. The results also imply that policies that improve teenagers’ educational prospects may be effective tools for reducing youthful involvement in such behaviors.

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“… 5 This intuition is similar to that of Lochner [2004], who considers how human-capital investments affect criminal activity. …”

mentioning

confidence: 71%

Forward-thinking teens: The effects of college costs on adolescent risky behavior

Cowan

2011

Economics of Education Review

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“…For example, about 41% of inmates in prisons and jails in 1997 had not completed high school (Harlow, 2003). In addition, studies have found that high school graduates are much less likely to engage in crimes than high school dropouts (Lochner, 2004; Lochner & Moretti, 2004). Thus, the relations between school mobility and adult offending might be explained indirectly through the connection between school mobility and dropout.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood predictors of young adult male crime

Reynolds

2010

Children and Youth Services Review

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The study sample was drawn from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS), an ongoing investigation of a panel of low-income minority children (93% Black) growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago. The study sample included 733 males who were active by age 26. Adult criminal records were collected through administrative records and supplemented with selfreports. Outcome measures included incarceration, conviction, and felony conviction by age 26.Probit regression was used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that common childhood predictors were AFDC participation by child's age 3, negative home environment, maltreatment experience, trouble making behavior, and number of school moves. Unique predictors were mother unemployed by child's age 3 for incarceration or jail, four or more children in household by child's age 3 for felony conviction, and mother did not complete high school by child's age 3 and social competence for both incarceration or jail and felony conviction. Implications on crime prevention were discussed. Keywords male; crime; delinquency; predictors Childhood Predictors of Young Adult Male CrimeIt is well known that the consequences of crime are substantial and long lasting to individuals and to the society. For instance, the cost to the society includes criminal justice and social service expenditures, and the incarcerated offenders also result in lost tax revenues. Given the costs and consequences of crime and incarceration, effective crime prevention and intervention are imperative for the benefits of the society. Notwithstanding an awareness of urgency regarding reducing crime, the variability inherent within people who engage in criminal activities hinders the development of effective prevention programs. Identifying predictors of crime will help to develop effective preventive interventions.In 2007, there were over 1.5 million prisoners in state and federal correctional facilities. Although women population in prison has been growing rapidly in the past decade, overall men are much more likely to be incarcerated than women. In 2007, over 92% of the prisoners were male. At year end 2001, almost 9 times as many men as women had ever incarcerated in a State or Federal prison (Bonczar, 2003). Given the large gender gap in crime rates and the different processes of socialization by gender, the mechanisms and © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Please direct correspondence to: Suh-Ruu Ou, Institute of Child Development, 204 Child Development, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455 or sou@umn.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journ...

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“…Scholars like Lochner and Moretti (2001) or Entorf and Sieger (2010) confirm this postulation with their empirical investigations. Additionally, the rate of men aged 20-23 reporting to earn parts of their income from crime is about 34 % for those completing 11-12 years of school; yet these numbers drop significantly to 24 % for those with a high school degree and even 17 % for those with more than 12 years of education (Lochner, 2004). Freeman (1996) examined the structure of inmates and found out that approximately two thirds of all men in jail in the US did not graduate from high school.…”

Section: Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%