Does Dropping Out of High School Affect the Probability of Spending Time in Prison or Jail?
Abstract
There is significant evidence that government expenditures on prison are substantial and that a lack of education contributes to crime rates. I estimate a linear probability model via OLS to determine how graduating from high school affects the probability of being arrested as an adult. In this study I use data from Waves 1 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). After controlling for mother and father absenteeism, childhood household income, demographic data, and whether or not parents spent time in prison I find that dropping out of high school increases the probability of going to jail or prison by 20 percentage points.
Session Name:
The Economics of Education
Start Date
10-4-2015 10:15 AM
End Date
10-4-2015 11:15 AM
Location
HSB 300
Does Dropping Out of High School Affect the Probability of Spending Time in Prison or Jail?
HSB 300
There is significant evidence that government expenditures on prison are substantial and that a lack of education contributes to crime rates. I estimate a linear probability model via OLS to determine how graduating from high school affects the probability of being arrested as an adult. In this study I use data from Waves 1 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). After controlling for mother and father absenteeism, childhood household income, demographic data, and whether or not parents spent time in prison I find that dropping out of high school increases the probability of going to jail or prison by 20 percentage points.