Working Paper: NBER ID: w10478
Authors: Lance Lochner
Abstract: This paper develops a model of crime in which human capital increases the opportunity cost of crime from foregone work and expected costs associated with incarceration. Older, more intelligent, and more educated adults should commit fewer street (unskilled) crimes. White collar crimes decline less (or increase) with age and education. Predictions for age-crime and education-crime relationships receive broad empirical support in self-report data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and arrest data from the Uniform Crime Reports. The effects of education, training, and wage subsidies, as well as enforcement policies on criminal behavior are discussed.
Keywords: Human Capital; Crime; Education; Opportunity Cost
JEL Codes: J24; K42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Education (I29) | unskilled crime (K42) |
| Age (J14) | unskilled crime (K42) |
| Education (I29) | opportunity cost of crime (K42) |
| Age (J14) | opportunity cost of crime (K42) |
| opportunity cost of crime (K42) | unskilled crime (K42) |
| Age (J14) | white collar crime (K42) |
| Education (I29) | white collar crime (K42) |