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Crime, compulsory schooling laws and education

Bell, Brian, Costa, Rui and Machin, Stephen ORCID: 0009-0004-8130-2701 (2015) Crime, compulsory schooling laws and education. CEP Discussion Paper (1374). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Do compulsory schooling laws reduce crime? Previous evidence for the U.S. from the 1960s and 1970s suggests they do, primarily working through their effect on educational attainment to generate a causal impact on crime. In this paper, we consider whether more recent experience replicates this. There are two key findings. First, there is a strong and consistent negative effect on crime from stricter compulsory schooling laws. Second, there is a weaker and sometimes non-existent link between such laws and educational attainment. As a result, credible causal estimates of the education-crime relationship cannot in general be identified for the more recent period, though they can for some groups with lower education levels (in particular, for blacks).

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/
Additional Information: © 2015 The Authors
Divisions: Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
JEL classification: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education
K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior > K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
Date Deposited: 14 Jan 2016 10:45
Last Modified: 11 Dec 2024 19:19
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/64968

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