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Wheeling into school and out of crime: Evidence from linking driving licenses to minimum academic requirements

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  • Barua, Rashmi
  • Hoefer-Martí, Ian
  • Vidal-Fernandez, Marian

Abstract

“No Pass No Drive” (NPND) laws deny or revoke driver's licenses to minors if they drop out of school, are frequent truants, show behavioral problems, or have a low academic performance. Using Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrest data, we exploit state, time, and cohort variation to show that NPND laws are associated with a significant decline in total crime, DUI and property crimes among 16 to 18 year old males, and in DUIs among 16 to 18 year old females. We argue that NPND laws are a relatively low cost policy alternative to compulsory attendance laws that increase education and generate positive externalities. To explore unreported in-school crimes, we use micro data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and find that NPND laws decrease in-school risky activities. However, we also find that they have unintended consequences for in-school risky behavior when accompanied with strict academic or behavioral requirements.

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  • Barua, Rashmi & Hoefer-Martí, Ian & Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, 2024. "Wheeling into school and out of crime: Evidence from linking driving licenses to minimum academic requirements," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 334-377.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:217:y:2024:i:c:p:334-377
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.11.008
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    1. Kendall J. Kennedy, 2020. "The Unexpected Effects of No Pass, No Drive Policies on High School Education," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 191-217, January.
    2. Kennedy, Kendall & Shen, Danqing, 2020. "Education, Crowding-out, and Black-White Employment Gaps in Youth Labor Markets: Evidence from No Pass, No Drive Policies," MPRA Paper 103788, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    No Pass No Drive laws; Juvenile Crime; Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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