IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/demogr/v57y2020i1d10.1007_s13524-019-00850-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Crime and Inequality in Academic Achievement Across School Districts in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Gerard Torrats-Espinosa

    (Columbia University
    Columbia University)

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of violent crime on school district–level achievement in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. The research design exploits variation in achievement and violent crime across 813 school districts in the United States and seven birth cohorts of children born between 1996 and 2002. The identification strategy leverages exogenous shocks to crime rates arising from the availability of federal funds to hire police officers in the local police departments where the school districts operate. Results show that children who entered the school system when the violent crime rate in their school districts was lower score higher in ELA by the end of eighth grade, relative to children attending schools in the same district but who entered the school system when the violent crime rate was higher. A 10% decline in the violent crime rate experienced at ages 0–6 raises eighth-grade ELA achievement in the district by 0.03 standard deviations. Models that estimate effects by race and gender show larger impacts among Black children and boys. The district-wide effect on mathematics achievement is smaller and statistically nonsignificant. These findings extend our understanding of the geography of educational opportunity in the United States and reinforce the idea that understanding inequalities in academic achievement requires evidence on what happens inside as well as outside schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerard Torrats-Espinosa, 2020. "Crime and Inequality in Academic Achievement Across School Districts in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(1), pages 123-145, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:57:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s13524-019-00850-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-019-00850-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13524-019-00850-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13524-019-00850-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven D. Levitt, 2004. "Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 163-190, Winter.
    2. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, 2018. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I: Childhood Exposure Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1107-1162.
    3. Seth Gershenson & Erdal Tekin, 2018. "The Effect of Community Traumatic Events on Student Achievement: Evidence from the Beltway Sniper Attacks," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(4), pages 513-544, Fall.
    4. Anna Aizer, 2007. "Neighborhood Violence and Urban Youth," NBER Chapters, in: The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth: An Economic Perspective, pages 275-307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sharkey, P.T. & Tirado-Strayer, N. & Papachristos, A.V. & Raver, C.C., 2012. "The effect of local violence on children's attention and impulse control," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(12), pages 2287-2293.
    6. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Patrick Kline & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1553-1623.
    7. Robert Sampson & Patrick Sharkey, 2008. "Neighborhood selection and the social reproduction of concentrated racial inequality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(1), pages 1-29, February.
    8. Ingrid Gould Ellen & Keren Mertens Horn & Davin Reed, 2017. "Has Falling Crime Invited Gentrification?," Working Papers 17-27, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    9. Julien Lafortune & Jesse Rothstein & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2018. "School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, April.
    10. Mello, Steven, 2019. "More COPS, less crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 174-200.
    11. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413.
    12. Evans, William N. & Owens, Emily G., 2007. "COPS and crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 181-201, February.
    13. PatrickSharkey & Amy Ellen Schwartz & Ingrid Gould Ellen & Johanna Lacoe, 2013. "High stakes in the classroom, high stakes on the street: The effects of community violence on students’ standardized test performance," Working Paper 9313, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    14. Sharkey, Patrick & Torrats-Espinosa, Gerard, 2017. "The effect of violent crime on economic mobility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 22-33.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mark, Nicholas D.E. & Torrats-Espinosa, Gerard, 2022. "Declining violence and improving birth outcomes in the US: Evidence from birth certificate data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sharkey, Patrick & Torrats-Espinosa, Gerard, 2017. "The effect of violent crime on economic mobility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 22-33.
    2. Cavit Baran & Eric Chyn & Bryan A. Stuart, 2024. "The Great Migration and Educational Opportunity," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 354-398, July.
    3. Cabral, Marika & Kim, Bokyung & Rossin-Slater, Maya & Schnell, Molly & Schwandt, Hannes, 2020. "Trauma at School: The Impacts of Shootings on Students' Human Capital and Economic Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 13998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Jo Blanden & Matthias Doepke & Jan Stuhler, 2022. "Education inequality," CEP Discussion Papers dp1849, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Muñoz, Ercio, 2021. "Does it Matter Where You Grow up? Childhood Exposure Effects in Latin America and the Caribbean," Research Department working papers 1843, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    6. Tong, Lijing & Wu, Bin & Zhang, Min, 2022. "Do auditors’ early-life socioeconomic opportunities improve audit quality? Evidence from China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).
    7. Robert J Sampson, 2019. "Neighbourhood effects and beyond: Explaining the paradoxes of inequality in the changing American metropolis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 3-32, January.
    8. Handy, Christopher & Shester, Katharine L., 2022. "Local changes in intergenerational mobility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Ihlanfeldt, Keith & Yang, Cynthia Fan, 2021. "Single-family rentals and neighborhood racial integration✰," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    10. Hennig, Jan-Luca, 2021. "Labor Market Polarization and Intergenerational Mobility: Theory and Evidence," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242353, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Francesco Andreoli & Eugenio Peluso, 2016. "So close yet so unequal: Reconsidering spatial inequality in U.S. cities," Working Papers 21/2016, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    12. Bratu, Cristina & Bolotnyy, Valentin, 2023. "Immigrant intergenerational mobility: A focus on childhood environment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    13. Alex Bell & Raj Chetty & Xavier Jaravel & Neviana Petkova & John Van Reenen, 2019. "Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 647-713.
    14. Chong Lu, 2022. "The effect of migration on rural residents’ intergenerational subjective social status mobility in China," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3279-3308, October.
    15. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dahmann, Sarah C. & Salamanca, Nicolás & Zhu, Anna, 2022. "Intergenerational disadvantage: Learning about equal opportunity from social assistance receipt," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Dodin, Majed & Findeisen, Sebastian & Henkel, Lukas & Sachs, Dominik & Schüle, Paul, 2024. "Social mobility in Germany," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    17. Braxton, John Carter & Chikhale, Nisha & Herkenhoff, Kyle & Phillips, Gordon, 2024. "Intergenerational Mobility and Credit," IZA Discussion Papers 16826, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Kalra, Aarushi, 2021. "A 'Ghetto' of One's Own: Communal Violence, Residential Segregation and Group Education Outcomes in India," SocArXiv rzjct, Center for Open Science.
    19. Blesse, Sebastian & Diegmann, André, 2022. "The place-based effects of police stations on crime: Evidence from station closures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    20. Michael J. Kottelenberg & Steven F. Lehrer, 2019. "How Skills and Parental Valuation of Education Influence Human Capital Acquisition and Early Labor Market Return to Human Capital in Canada," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(S2), pages 735-778.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:57:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s13524-019-00850-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.