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Crime and the Labor Market in a Search Model with Pairwise-Efficient Separations

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  • Engelhardt, Bryan
  • Rocheteau, Guillaume
  • Rupert, Peter

Abstract

This paper extends the Pissarides (2000) model of the labor market to include crime and punishment à la Becker (1968). All workers, irrespective of their labor force status can commit crimes and the employment contract is determined optimally. The model is used to study, analytically and quantitatively, the effects of various labor market and crime policies. For instance, a more generous unemployment insurance system reduces the crime rate of the unemployed but its effect on the crime rate of the employed depends on job duration and jail sentences. When the model is calibrated to U.S. data, the overall effect on crime is positive but quantitatively small. Wage subsidies reduce unemployment and crime rates of employed and unemployed workers, and improve society's welfare. Hiring subsidies reduce unemployment but they can raise the crime rate of employed workers. Crime policies (police technology and jail sentences) affect crime rates significantly but have only negligible effects on the labor market.

Suggested Citation

  • Engelhardt, Bryan & Rocheteau, Guillaume & Rupert, Peter, 2007. "Crime and the Labor Market in a Search Model with Pairwise-Efficient Separations," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt72r6g75d, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:qt72r6g75d
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bryan Engelhardt, 2008. "The Effect of Employment Frictions on Crime: Theory and Estimation," Working Papers 0805, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.

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    Keywords

    crime; unemployment; search; matching;
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