The effects of education on crime

Wim Groot (1) , Henriette Maassen van den Brink (2)

1 Department of Health Organization, Policy and Economics
2 Department of Econometrics [Amsterdam]

In this paper we use a unique data-set on criminal behavior to analyze the effects of education on offences and crimes committed. The findings suggest that substantial savings on the social costs of crime can be obtained by investing in education. We find that the probability of committing crimes like shop lifting, vandalism and threat, assault and injury decrease with years of education. The probability of committing tax fraud, however, increases with years of education. We further find that higher educated people have more permissive attitudes and social norms towards criminal behavior.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Wim Groot, Henriette Maassen van den Brink. The effects of education on crime. Applied Economics, 2009, 42 (03), pp.279-289. ⟨10.1080/00036840701604412⟩. ⟨hal-00582150⟩