RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 How Does Visitation Affect Incarcerated Persons and Their Families? Estimates Using Exogenous Variation in Visits Driven by Distance Between Home and Prison
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0620-10951R3
DO 10.3368/jhr.0620-10951R3
A1 Lars Højsgaard Andersen
A1 Maria Fitzpatrick
A1 Christopher Wildeman
YR 2021
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/11/03/jhr.0620-10951R3.abstract
AB Tens of millions of people in the world are incarcerated, which may negatively affect them and their families. Visitation may mitigate the negative consequences, but there is little causally identified evidence on its efficacy. To generate plausibly causal estimates, we utilize the fact that incarcerated persons in Denmark are assigned to the prison with open capacity that is closest to their home. The distance-driven variation in visitation, coupled with Danish registry data, allows us to measure the effects of visitation on incarcerated persons and their families. We find little evidence that visitation affects incarcerated individuals or their family members.