Ban-The-Box, Employment, and Crime

• In Event: Employment and Criminal Records

Abstract

This study investigates a state policy with the potential to mitigate some of the collateral consequences: ban-the-box (BTB) legislation. While previous economic research has investigated the effects of these policies employment, questions remain as to whether these laws impact crime rates by improving employment. This chapter leverages a uniquely constructed panel dataset of U.S. states from 1995-2020 and estimates staggered adoption difference-in-difference (DID) models to estimate the causal effect of BTB legislation on both employment and crime at the state-level. I estimate an average treatment effect of -1.7 for nonemployment, marking BTB laws as catalysts for state-level employment. However, these effects are moderated by both race and a state’s history of criminal record production. The results on crime are much weaker, suggesting that BTB legislation may not be a strong enough treatment to significantly reduce state-level crime.

Author

• Ryan Paul Larson, Hamline University