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Does Public Assistance Reduce Recidivism?

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  • Crystal S. Yang

Abstract

Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, individuals convicted of drug-related felonies were permanently banned from receiving welfare and food stamps. Since then, over 30 states have opted out of the federal ban. In this paper, I estimate the impact of public assistance eligibility on recidivism by exploiting both the adoption of the federal ban and subsequent passage of state laws that lifted the ban. Using administrative prison records on five million offenders and a triple-differences research design, I find that public assistance eligibility for drug offenders reduces one-year recidivism rates by 10 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Crystal S. Yang, 2017. "Does Public Assistance Reduce Recidivism?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 551-555, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:5:p:551-55
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171001
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Diogo G. C. Britto & Paolo Pinotti & Breno Sampaio, 2022. "The Effect of Job Loss and Unemployment Insurance on Crime in Brazil," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(4), pages 1393-1423, July.
    2. Erkmen G. Aslim & Murat C. Mungan & Carlos I. Navarro & Han Yu, 2022. "The Effect of Public Health Insurance on Criminal Recidivism," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 45-91, January.
    3. Manasi Deshpande & Michael G. Mueller-Smith, 2022. "Does Welfare Prevent Crime? The Criminal Justice Outcomes of Youth Removed From SSI," NBER Working Papers 29800, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Lars Højsgaard Andersen & Christian Dustmann & Rasmus Landersø, 2019. "Lowering Welfare Benefits: Intended and Unintended Consequences for Migrants and their Families," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1905, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    5. Barrios-Fernandez, Mauricio Andres & Garcia Hombrados, Jorge, 2021. "Recidivism and neighborhood institutions: evidence from the rise of the evangelical church in Chile," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114355, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Qiwei He & Scott Barkowski, 2020. "The effect of health insurance on crime: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 261-277, March.
    7. Jacob Vogler, 2020. "Access to Healthcare and Criminal Behavior: Evidence from the ACA Medicaid Expansions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(4), pages 1166-1213, September.
    8. Espinosa, Romain & DeAngelo, Gregory & Deffains, Bruno & Mungan, Murat & Romaniuc, Rustam, 2021. "The price of expungements," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Marguerite Burns & Laura Dague, 2023. "In-Kind Welfare Benefits and Reincarceration Risk: Evidence from Medicaid," NBER Working Papers 31394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Franco, Catalina & Harding, David J. & Bushway, Shawn D. & Morenoff, Jeffrey, 2022. "Failing to Follow the Rules: Can Imprisonment Lead to More Imprisonment Without More Actual Crime?," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 3/2022, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics, revised 01 Oct 2018.
    11. Sim, Yongbo, 2023. "The effect of opioids on crime: Evidence from the introduction of OxyContin," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    12. Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham, 2019. "SNAP Benefits and Crime: Evidence from Changing Disbursement Schedules," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 310-325, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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