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The Effect of Rehabilitative Punishments on Juvenile Crime and Labor Market Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Huttunen, Kristiina

    (Aalto University)

  • Pekkala Kerr, Sari

    (Wellesley College)

  • Mälkönen, Ville

    (Nordic Investment Bank)

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of a rehabilitative punishment on the post-release outcomes of juvenile criminals using a unique Finnish data set on sentences and punishments merged with the longitudinal population census for 1990-2007. The rehabilitative program was aimed at improving the social skills and labor market attachment of young offenders aged 15 to 17. A variety of research designs are used to isolate the effect of the juvenile punishment and to control for observable characteristics of the young offenders. The juvenile punishment experiment was initially conducted in certain criminal courts only and was applicable for youths aged under 18, giving rise to a differences-in-differences and triple differences setup. The juvenile punishment reduced reoffending during the year immediately after sentencing, but had no long-term effect on reoffending nor on labor market outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Huttunen, Kristiina & Pekkala Kerr, Sari & Mälkönen, Ville, 2014. "The Effect of Rehabilitative Punishments on Juvenile Crime and Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 8403, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8403
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Engel, 2016. "Experimental Criminal Law. A Survey of Contributions from Law, Economics and Criminology," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2016_07, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    2. Christoph Engel & Sebastian J. Goerg & Christian Traxler, 2022. "Intensified support for juvenile offenders on probation: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 447-490, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    juvenile crime; punishments; rehabilitation; recidivism; earnings; employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • J29 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Other

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