School Starting Age and the Crime-Age Profile

Arbeitspapier

This paper uses register-based data to investigate the effects of school starting age on crime. Through this, we provide insights into the determinants of crime-age profiles. We exploit that Danish children typically start first grade in the calendar year they turn seven, which gives rise to a discontinuity in school starting age for children born around New Year. Our analysis speaks against a simple invariant crime-age profile as is popular in criminology: we find that higher school starting age lowers the propensity to commit crime at young ages. We also find effects on the number of crimes committed for boys.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9279

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Analysis of Education ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
• Subject: criminal charges ; school start ; old-for-grade ; violence ; property crime

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Landerso, Rasmus ; Nielsen, Helena Skyt ; Simonsen, Marianne
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/114153
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET