Child’s Gender, Young Fathers’ Crime, and Spillover Effects in Criminal Behavior

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2021
Volume: 129
Issue: 12
Pages: 3261 - 3301

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Men who father their first child at a very young age are convicted of significantly fewer crimes in the first years after birth if the child is a son rather than a daughter. This leads to behavioral spillovers that reduce criminal convictions among other young men living in the same neighborhood, with the resulting crime multipliers affecting peers’ crime even after the primary impact on the focal individual has dissipated. Through social multipliers, prevention policies that target potential criminals at an early stage, therefore, lead to larger reductions in the cost of crime than suggested by primary effects alone.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/716562
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25