Education and Incarceration in the Jim Crow South: Evidence from Rosenwald Schools

• Eriksson, Katherine ^[1]
  1. [1] University of California–Davis
• Localización: Journal of human resources, ISSN 0022-166X, Vol. 55, Nº 1, 2020, págs. 43-75
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This paper examines the effect of childhood access to primary schooling on adult black incarceration in the early 20th century. I construct a linked census data set of incarcerated and nonincarcerated men to observe access to schooling in childhood. I find that full exposure to one of the new primary schools built as part of the Rosenwald program reduces the probability of incarceration by 1.9 percentage points. I argue that the reduction in incarceration comes from increased opportunity costs of crime through higher educational attainment. These results contribute to a broader literature on racial gaps in social outcomes in the United States.