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Juvenile crime and the four-day school week

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  • Fischer, Stefanie
  • Argyle, Daniel

Abstract

We leverage the adoption of a four-day school week across schools within the jurisdiction of rural law enforcement agencies in Colorado to examine the causal link between school attendance and youth crime. Those affected by the policy attend school for the same number of hours each week as students on a typical five-day week; however, treated students do not attend school on Friday. This policy allows us to learn about two aspects of the school-crime relationship that have previously been unstudied: one, the effects of a frequent and permanent schedule change on short-term crime, and two, the impact that school attendance has on youth crime in rural areas. Our difference-in-difference estimates show that following policy adoption, agencies containing students on a four-day week experience about a 20% increase in juvenile criminal offenses, where the strongest effect is observed for property crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Fischer, Stefanie & Argyle, Daniel, 2018. "Juvenile crime and the four-day school week," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 31-39.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:64:y:2018:i:c:p:31-39
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.03.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Valerie Bostwick & Stefanie Fischer & Matthew Lang, 2022. "Semesters or Quarters? The Effect of the Academic Calendar on Postsecondary Student Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 40-80, February.
    2. Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Tavassoli, Nahid, 2022. "An ounce of prevention, a pound of cure: The effects of college expansions on crime," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Leonardo Rosa & Raphael Bruce & Natália Sarellas, 2022. "Effects of school day time on homicides: The case of the full-day high school program in Pernambuco, Brazil," Working Papers 16, Instituto de Estudos para Políticas de Saúde.
    4. Thompson, Paul N., 2021. "Is four less than five? Effects of four-day school weeks on student achievement in Oregon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    5. Thompson, Paul N., 2019. "Does a Day Lost Equal Dollars Saved? The Effects of Four-Day School Weeks on School District Expenditures," IZA Discussion Papers 12698, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Thompson, Paul N. & Ward, Jason, 2022. "Only a matter of time? The role of time in school on four-day school week achievement impacts," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Thompson, Paul N., 2019. "Effects of Four-Day School Weeks on Student Achievement: Evidence from Oregon," IZA Discussion Papers 12204, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Kozhaya, Mireille & Martínez Flores, Fernanda, 2022. "School attendance and child labor: Evidence from Mexico’s Full-Time School program," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crime; Inequality; Rural public policy; Education policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods

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