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Crime, compulsory schooling laws and education

Bell, Brian, Costa, Rui and Machin, Stephen (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: 15 Sep 2023 23:37
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/64968

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