The Labor Market Consequences of Incarceration
Abstract
Rapid growth in the incarceration rate over the past two decades has made prison time a routine event in the life course of young, economically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic men. Although incarceration may now have large effects on economic inequality, only a few studies systematically examine the labor market experiences of ex-offenders. We review the mechanisms that plausibly link incarceration to employment and earnings and discuss the challenges of causal inference for a highly self-selected sample of criminal offenders. There is little consensus about the labor market effects of a variety of justice system sanctions, but there is consistent evidence for the negative effects of prison time on earnings, particularly among older or white-collar offenders. The labor market effects of incarceration are not yet well understood, but prior research suggests several promising avenues for future work.
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OLS studies usually find either negative or no effect of incarceration on earnings and employment.
“In terms of labor market outcomes, OLS studies usually find either negative or no effect on earnings and employment.”
From Incarceration, Recidivism, and Employment (2020) · cites this paper as Western et al. (2001)
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How Work Affects Crime—And Crime Affects Work—Over The Life Course
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The Impact of Incarceration in State Prison on the Employment Prospects of Women
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The Impact of Mass Incarceration on Poverty
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A National Study of Veterans Treatment Court Participants: Who Benefits and Who Recidivates
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- Authors
- Western, B., Kling, J. R., & Weiman, D. F.
- ORCID
- Western, Bruce
- Venue
- Crime & Delinquency
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2001-07
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 410-427
- ISSN
- 0011-1287 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-387X
- OpenAlex
- W2059585731
- Cited by
- 499
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 27.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Crime & Delinquency (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
- Keywords
- incarceration, labor market outcomes, ex-offenders, earnings, employment, economic inequality, self-selection, causal inference, recidivism
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