The Effect of Employment Frictions on Crime

This article provides estimates on how long it takes for released inmates to find a job and, when they find a job, how less likely they are to be incarcerated. An on‐the‐job search model with crime is used to model criminal behavior, derive the estimation method, and analyze policies including a job placement program. The results show that the unemployed are incarcerated twice as fast as the employed and take on average 6 months to find a job. The article demonstrates that reducing the average unemployment spell of previously incarcerated criminals by 3 months reduces crime and recidivism by more than 5%.