Document Type
Working Paper
Date of This Version
4-1-2008
Keywords
crime, search, unemployment, wage dispersion
Abstract
I investigate how long it takes for released inmates to find a job, and when they find a job, how their incarceration rate changes. An on-the-job search model with crime is used to model criminal behavior, derive the estimation method and analyze several policies including a job placement program. The results show the unemployed are incarcerated twice as fast as the employed and take on average four months to find a job. Combining these results, it is demonstrated that reducing the average unemployment spell of criminals by two months reduces crime and recidivism by more than five percent.
Working Paper Number
0805
Recommended Citation
Engelhardt, Bryan, "The Effect of Employment Frictions on Crime: Theory and Estimation" (2008). Economics Department Working Papers. Paper 55.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/econ_working_papers/55