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Life after prison The relationship between employment and re-incarceration

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Abstract

We explore the relationship between formal employment and recidivism using a dataset that follows every Norwegian resident released from prison in 2003 for several years. By the end of 2006, 27 percent are re-incarcerated. Using a Cox proportional hazard model that controls for a host of individual characteristics, we find that the hazard of re-incarceration is 63 percent lower for those getting employed compared to those not getting employed. While some of the moderating association between employment and re-incarceration is accounted for by observable individual characteristics, the substantially lower hazard for those getting employed indicates a possibility of a considerable benign effect of employment on recidivism. Our analysis thus provides further indication that provision of employment opportunities can facilitate the return to society after release from prison.

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  • Torbjørn Skardhamar & Kjetil Telle, 2009. "Life after prison The relationship between employment and re-incarceration," Discussion Papers 597, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssb:dispap:597
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    1. János Kollo & Bence Czafit, 2014. "Labor Market Careers before and after Incarceration," Budapest Working Papers on the Labour Market 1408, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    2. Benjamin Monnery, 2015. "The determinants of recidivism among ex-prisoners: a survival analysis on French data," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 37-56, February.
    3. Köllő, János & Czafit, Bence, 2014. "Labor Market Careers Before and After Incarceration," IZA Discussion Papers 8644, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Bence Czafit & János Köllő, 2015. "Employment and wages before and after incarceration – evidence from Hungary," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Synøve Nygaard Andersen & Torbjørn Skardhamar, 2014. "Pick a number. Mapping recidivism measures and their consequences," Discussion Papers 772, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    6. Thomas Søbirk Petersen, 2016. "Some Ethical Considerations on the use of Criminal Records in the Labor Market: in Defense of a New Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 443-453, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    prison; recidivism; employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J19 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Other
    • K49 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Other

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