RT Article
T1 Earnings prospects, matching effects, and the decision to terminate a criminal career
JF Journal of quantitative criminology
VO 11
IS 1
SP 29
OP 50
A1 Pezzin, Liliana E. 1961-
LA English
YR 1995
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764275926
AB This study represents an effort to investigate the age pattern of criminal involvement from an economist's perspective. It presents a dynamic stochastic model of sequential search and match evaluation which is used to explain the reasons for, and the timing of, the decision to terminate a criminal career. The behavioral implications derived from the theoretical model are tested using individual National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. Estimation results strongly support the prediction of a negative relation between the option value of retaining a criminal career and desistance decisions. More specifically, the effects of current and future expected criminal earnings are shown to be negative, substantial, and statistically significant in determining desistance probabilities. Retiring behavior is also significantly responsive to variables measuring personal costs of punishment and the availability and attractiveness of a legal income-generating activity in ways consistent with theoretical expectations.
K1 value of a criminal career
K1 matching effects
K1 life-cycle models
K1 Rational Choice
K1 Crime desistance
DO 10.1007/BF02221299