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PreprintCited by 18Youth Development and Social SupportCrime Patterns and InterventionsSubstance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Mentoring, Educational Services, and Economic Incentives: Longer-Term Evidence on Risky Behaviors from a Randomized Trial

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Rodriguez-Planas, Nuria·2010·SSRN Electronic Journal
DOI 10.2139/ssrn.1631103
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Abstract

This paper is the first to use a randomized trial in the US to analyze the short- and long-term impacts of an after-school program that offered disadvantaged high-school youth: mentoring, educational services, and financial rewards to attend program activities, complete high-school and enroll in post-secondary education on youths' engagement in risky behaviors, such as substance abuse, criminal activity, and teenage childbearing. Outcomes were measured at three different points in time, when youths were in their late-teens, and when they were in their early- and their late-twenties. Overall the program was unsuccessful at reducing risky behaviors. Heterogeneity matters in that perverse effects are concentrated among certain subgroups, such as males, older youths, and youths from sites where youths received higher amount of stipends. We claim that this evidence is consistent with different models of youths’ behavioral response to economic incentives. In addition, beneficial effects found in those sites in which QOP youths represented a large fraction of the entering class of 9th graders provides hope for these type of programs when operated in small communities and supports the hypothesis of peer effects.

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  • Some studies show less promising results when interventions were targeted at adolescents.

    “While these studies show that personality can be improved through intervention, a couple of other studies show less promising results when the interventions were targeted at adolescents (Rodríguez-Planas [2010], Holmlund and Silva [2009]).”

    From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Rodríguez-Planas [2010]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rodriguez-Planas, N.
ORCID
Rodriguez-Planas, Nuria
Venue
SSRN Electronic Journal
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010
ISSN
1556-5068 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.1631103
OpenAlex
W1535889903
Cited by
18
References
4
Citations by year
2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • RECERCAT (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Keywords
mentoring, after-school programs, educational services, financial incentives, risk-taking, substance abuse, teenage childbearing, high school graduation, postsecondary education, disadvantaged youth, economic incentives, peer effects, program heterogeneity, long-term outcomes

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