The crime reducing effect of education

Stephen Machin, Olivier Marie, Sunčica Vujić

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

275 Citations (SciVal)
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Abstract

In this article, we study the crime reducing potential of education, presenting causal statistical estimates based upon a law that changed the compulsory school leaving age in England and Wales. We frame the analysis in a regression-discontinuity setting and uncover significant decreases in property crime from reductions in the proportion of people with no educational qualifications and increases in the age of leaving school that resulted from the change in the law. The findings show that improving education can yield significant social benefits and can be a key policy tool in the drive to reduce crime.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)463-484
Number of pages22
JournalThe Economic journal
Volume121
Issue number552
Early online date11 May 2011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2011

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