Location: 368A Heady Hall

Description:  Magne Mogstad 

"The Economics of Incarceration, Recidivism, and Employment of Individuals”

Abstract: In many OECD countries incarceration rates have been rising. This study focuses on how well ex-convicts reintegrate into society, as reflected in post-prison employment. An important issue is whether recidivism is a characteristic of criminals or a consequence of their experience of being in prison.  Ignoring the effects of unobservable can lead to an erroneous conclusion that prisons are criminogenic. The study uses Norwegian data and an instrument created by the random assignment of criminal cases to judges to estimate the labor market effects of incarceration. Pre-incarceration employment is an important predictor of post-prison integration of convicts. A controversial but important finding is that the propensity for recidivism is a characteristic of criminals, and not, a consequence of the experience of being in prison.