An often overlooked population in discussions of prison reform is the children of inmates. How a child is affected … endogeneity concerns, we exploit the random assignment of judges who differ in their propensity to send defendants to prison …

Understanding whether, and in what situations, time spent in prison is criminogenic or preventive has proven … assignment of criminal cases to judges who differ systematically in their stringency in sentencing defendants to prison. Using … rates of recidivism among ex-convicts is due to selection, and not a consequence of the experience of being in prison …