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Labor Market Impacts of Reducing Felony Convictions

Author

Listed:
  • Agan, Amanda

    (Rutgers University)

  • Garin, Andrew

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Koustas, Dmitri

    (University of Chicago)

  • Mas, Alexandre

    (UC Berkeley)

  • Yang, Crystal S.

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

We study the labor market impacts of retroactively reducing felonies to misdemeanors in San Joaquin County, CA, where criminal justice agencies implemented Proposition 47 reductions in a quasi-random order, without requiring input or action from affected individuals. Linking records of reductions to administrative tax data, we find employment benefits for individuals who (likely) requested their reduction, consistent with selection, but no benefits among the larger subset of individuals whose records were reduced proactively. A field experiment notifying a subset of individuals about their proactive reduction also shows null results, implying that lack of awareness is unlikely to explain our findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Agan, Amanda & Garin, Andrew & Koustas, Dmitri & Mas, Alexandre & Yang, Crystal S., 2023. "Labor Market Impacts of Reducing Felony Convictions," IZA Discussion Papers 16528, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16528
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah K. S. Shannon & Christopher Uggen & Jason Schnittker & Melissa Thompson & Sara Wakefield & Michael Massoglia, 2017. "The Growth, Scope, and Spatial Distribution of People With Felony Records in the United States, 1948–2010," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(5), pages 1795-1818, October.
    2. Holzer, Harry J & Raphael, Steven & Stoll, Michael A, 2006. "Perceived Criminality, Criminal Background Checks, and the Racial Hiring Practices of Employers," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(2), pages 451-480, October.
    3. Pager, Devah & Western, Bruce & Bonikowski, Bart, 2009. "Discrimination in a Low-Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 4469, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Amanda Agan & Sonja Starr, 2018. "Ban the Box, Criminal Records, and Racial Discrimination: A Field Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(1), pages 191-235.
    5. Devah Pager, 2003. "The mark of a criminal record," Natural Field Experiments 00319, The Field Experiments Website.
    6. Zoë Cullen & Will Dobbie & Mitchell Hoffman, 2023. "Increasing the Demand for Workers with a Criminal Record," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 103-150.
    7. Damon Jones & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2019. "What do Workplace Wellness Programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1747-1791.
    8. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    crime; labor markets;

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

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