The impact of abortion on crime and crime-related behavior

• The 1966 abolition and 1989 legalization of abortion in Romania immediately doubled and decreased by about a third the number of births per month, respectively. Comparing birth month cohorts born on either side of the reform cut-offs allows us to cleanly identify the effect of abortion access on crime. For both the abolition and legalization of abortion, we find large and significant effects on the level of crime and risky-behavior related hospitalization, but insignificant effects on crime and hospitalization rates. We conclude with a discussion of what our results say about the mechanisms underlying the crime effects of abortion policy. CO 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Abortion

Crime

Risky behavior

legalized abortion

outcomes

child

pregnancy

education

health

prison

Business & Economics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)