puzzle: crime is expected to rise, not fall, when unemployment rises. Using a novel identification strategy, I show that … unemployment insurance (UI) benefit extensions can account for part of the puzzle, explaining why crime did not rise. The higher … extension rules in the length of benefits to identify the impact of unemployment benefits on crime. I estimate that in places …

The Great Depression of the 1930s led contemporaries to worry that people hit by hard times would turn to crime in … on crime rates. The analysis suggests that a ten percent increase in relief spending during the 1930s lowered property … crime by roughly 1.5 percent. By limiting the amount of free time for relief recipients, work relief was more effective than …

The Great Depression of the 1930s led contemporaries to worry that people hit by hard times would turn to crime in … at the roots of crime" by providing subsistence income to needy families. After constructing a panel data set for 81 … on crime rates. The analysis suggests that a ten percent increase in relief spending during the 1930s lowered property …

often mischaracterized by accusations that higher levels of immigration lead to higher levels of crime. The evidence, based … on empirical studies of many countries, indicates that there is no simple link between immigration and crime, but … legalizing the status of immigrants has beneficial effects on crime rates. Crucially, the evidence points to substantial …

's criminal justice system, offering new insights into how incarceration affects subsequent crime and employment. We construct a …. Exploring factors that may explain the preventive effect of incarceration, we find the decline in crime is driven by individuals …

often mischaracterized by accusations that higher levels of immigration lead to higher levels of crime. The evidence, based … on empirical studies of many countries, indicates that there is no simple link between immigration and crime, but … legalizing the status of immigrants has beneficial effects on crime rates. Crucially, the evidence points to substantial …