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School Starting Age and Crime

Author

Listed:
  • Landersø, Rasmus

    (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit)

  • Nielsen, Helena Skyt

    (Aarhus University)

  • Simonsen, Marianne

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of school starting age on crime while relying on variation in school starting age induced by administrative rules; we exploit that Danish children typically start first grade in the calendar year they turn seven, which gives rise to a discontinuity in children's school starting age. Analyses are carried out using register-based Danish data. We find that higher age at school start lowers the propensity to commit crime, but that this reduction is caused by incapacitation while human capital accumulation is unaffected. Importantly, we also find that the individuals who benefit most from being old-for-grade are those with high latent abilities whereas those with low latent ability seem to be unaffected by being old-for-grade in school.

Suggested Citation

  • Landersø, Rasmus & Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne, 2013. "School Starting Age and Crime," IZA Discussion Papers 7228, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7228
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas S. Dee & Hans Henrik Sievertsen, 2018. "The gift of time? School starting age and mental health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 781-802, May.
    2. Ylenia Brilli & Marco Tonello, 2015. "The contemporaneous effect of education on adolescent crime. Mechanisms and evidence from regional divides," CHILD Working Papers Series 41 JEL Classification: I2, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    3. Aoki, Yu, 2014. "More Schooling, Less Youth Crime? Learning from an Earthquake in Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 8619, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. McAdams, John M., 2016. "The effect of school starting age policy on crime: Evidence from U.S. microdata," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 227-241.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    violence; old-for-grade; school start; criminal charges; property crime;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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