Arbeitspapier

Crime, unemployment and labor market programs in turbulent times

We exploit the exceptional variation in municipality-level unemployment and spending on labor market programs in Sweden during the 1990s to identify the impact of unemployment and programs on crime. We identify a statistically significant effect of unemployment on the incidence of overall crime, burglary, auto-theft and drug possession. A calculation suggests that the sharp reduction in unemployment during the later 1990s may have reduced burglary and auto-theft with 15 and 20 percent, respectively. After addressing several specification issues, we conclude that there is at best weak evidence that labor market programs – general ones and those specifically targeted to the young – help to reduce crime.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: Working Paper ; No. 2003:14

Classification
Wirtschaft
Labor and Demographic Economics: General
Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior: General
Subject
Crime
unemployment
labor market programs
panel data

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Nilsson, Anna
Agell, Jonas
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU)
(where)
Uppsala
(when)
2003

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Nilsson, Anna
  • Agell, Jonas
  • Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU)

Time of origin

  • 2003

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