RESUMEN
We estimate the effect of local access to office-based mental healthcare on juvenile arrest outcomes. We leverage variation in the number of offices of physicians and non-physicians specializing in mental healthcare in a county over the period 1999-2016 in a two-way fixed-effects regression. Office-based treatment is the most common modality of mental healthcare received by juveniles. We find that 10 additional offices of physicians and non-physicians specializing in mental healthcare in a county leads a decrease of 2.3%-2.6% in the per capita costs to society of juvenile arrest. Findings are similar for arrest rates although often less precise, which suggests that accounting for social costs is empirically important. Crime imposes substantial costs on society and individuals, and interventions during early life can have more pronounced effects than those received at later stages, therefore our results imply increased juvenile access to mental healthcare may have an unintended benefit for the current and future generations.
Asunto(s)
Crimen , Servicios de Salud Mental , HumanosRESUMEN
A large literature points out that exposure to criminal victimization has far-reaching effects on public health. What remains surprisingly unexplored is that role that health shocks play in explaining aggregate fluctuations in offending. This research finds novel evidence that crime is sensitive to health shocks. We consider the responsiveness of crime to a pervasive and common health shock which we argue shifts costs and benefits for offenders and victims: seasonal allergies. Leveraging daily variation in city-specific pollen counts, we present evidence that violent crime declines in U.S. cities on days in which the local pollen count is unusually high and that these effects are driven by residential violence. While past literature suggests that property crimes have more instrumental motives, require planning, and hence are particularly sensitive to permanent changes in the cost and benefits of crime, we find that violence may be especially sensitive to health shocks.
Asunto(s)
Víctimas de Crimen , Crimen/tendencias , Estado de Salud , Humanos , Modelos Econométricos , Polen/efectos adversos , Polen/crecimiento & desarrollo , Salud Pública , Rinitis Alérgica Estacional , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
This paper evaluates the effect of implementing nighttime driving curfews and passenger restrictions mandated by graduated driver licensing (GDL) on teen fertility. Both components of GDL potentially restrict the freedom and mobility of minor drivers by requiring adult supervision, and therefore reduces opportunities to become pregnant. Using birth data from the National Vital Statistics (NVSS) and a triple differences approach, I find that the implementation of "tough" GDL decreased fertility by 3-4% among mothers between the ages of 16 and 18. This effect is driven by the states that require driving curfews for at least a year before teenagers can obtain their unrestricted drivers license.
Asunto(s)
Conducción de Automóvil/estadística & datos numéricos , Concesión de Licencias/legislación & jurisprudencia , Embarazo en Adolescencia/estadística & datos numéricos , Adolescente , Conducción de Automóvil/normas , Femenino , Humanos , EmbarazoRESUMEN
This paper estimates the effect of alcohol use on consumption of hard drugs using the exogenous decrease in the cost of accessing alcohol that occurs when individuals reach the minimum legal drinking age. By using a regression discontinuity design and the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, I find that all measures of alcohol consumption, even alcohol initiation increase discontinuously at age 21 years. I also find evidence that consumption of hard drugs decreased by 1.5 to 2 percentage points and the probability of initiating the use of hard drugs decreased by 1 percentage point at the age of 21 years, while the intensity of use among users remained unchanged. These estimates are robust to a variety of specifications and also remain robust across different subsamples.