Active labor market policies and crime
Journal: IZA World of Labor
Year: 2015

Participating in an active labor market program reduces the propensity of unemployed young men to commit crime. Program participation leaves less time for other activities, including criminal activities. The effects might be long-lasting, since the programs seem to change the lifestyles of participants. Long-lasting scars from unemployment-expressed through criminal activity-might be lessened by a well-designed active labor market policy. While unemployment shocks cannot be avoided, active labor