Panel Paper:
Do Ban the Box Laws Increase Crime?
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Stetson D (Hyatt Regency Chicago)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
- Ban-the-box (BTB) laws, which prevent employers from asking prospective employees about their criminal histories at initial job screenings, have been adopted by 25 states and the District of Columbia. This study is the first to examine the effects of state, county, and city BTB laws on crime. We find that BTB laws are associated with a 10 percent increase in crimes committed by Hispanic and African American men. This finding is consistent with (i) evidence that BTB laws reduce employment opportunities for racial minorities via statistical discrimination and (ii) the hypothesis that BTB laws induce moral hazard by reducing the costs of crime. Estimated effects are generally larger for BTB laws that cover both public and private employers. A causal interpretation of our findings is supported by falsification tests on policy leads and the lack of BTB-induced increases in crime for non-Hispanic whites and women.
