The Effects of Time in Prison and Time on Parole on Recidivism

Authors

Mariyana Zapryanova, Smith CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2020

Publication Title

Journal of Law and Economics

Abstract

In the United States, every year roughly 600,000 people are released from prison, two-thirds of them without having served their full sentence behind bars. Yet little is known about how release before full completion of sentence affects recidivism. I exploit the distinction between sentence and time served in prison to better understand how custodial and noncustodial sanctions affect recidivism. In particular, I study the effects of time in prison and time on parole on recidivism. Relying on two instrumental variables that provide independent variation in sentence and time served in prison, I do not find evidence that parole time affects recidivism. However, I find that a month in prison results in a 1.12-percentage-point decrease in the probability that an individual will reoffend while on parole, but it appears to have no effect on overall reoffending.

Volume

63

Issue

4

First Page

699

Last Page

727

Rights

© 2020 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

Version

Version of Record

Recommended Citation

Zapryanova, Mariyana, "The Effects of Time in Prison and Time on Parole on Recidivism" (2020). Economics: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/eco_facpubs/42