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Yang, Crystal S.. 2017. "Does Public Assistance Reduce Recidivism?." American Economic Review , 107(5):551-55 .

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DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171001



Abstract: Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, individuals convicted of drug-related felonies were permanently banned from receiving welfare and food stamps. Since then, over 30 states have opted out of the federal ban. In this paper, I estimate the impact of public assistance eligibility on recidivism by exploiting both the adoption of the federal ban and subsequent passage of state laws that lifted the ban. Using administrative prison records on five million offenders and a triple-differences research design, I find that public assistance eligibility for drug offenders reduces one-year recidivism rates by 10 percent.





Additional links: Data Set (43.18 KB) Online Appendix (84.65 KB) Author Disclosure Statement(s) (95.36 KB) Authors: JEL Classification: H53: National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs

H75: State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions

I32: Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

I38: Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

K42: Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law 10.1257/aer.p20171001Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, individuals convicted of drug-related felonies were permanently banned from receiving welfare and food stamps. Since then, over 30 states have opted out of the federal ban. In this paper, I estimate the impact of public assistance eligibility on recidivism by exploiting both the adoption of the federal ban and subsequent passage of state laws that lifted the ban. Using administrative prison records on five million offenders and a triple-differences research design, I find that public assistance eligibility for drug offenders reduces one-year recidivism rates by 10 percent.

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