PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Eriksson, Katherine
TI  - Education and Incarceration in the Jim Crow South
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.55.2.0816.8142R
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 43--75
VI  - 55
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/55/1/43.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/55/1/43.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2020 Jan 01; 55
AB  - This paper examines the effect of childhood access to primary schooling on adult black incarceration in the early 20th century. I construct a linked census data set of incarcerated and nonincarcerated men to observe access to schooling in childhood. I find that full exposure to one of the new primary schools built as part of the Rosenwald program reduces the probability of incarceration by 1.9 percentage points. I argue that the reduction in incarceration comes from increased opportunity costs of crime through higher educational attainment. These results contribute to a broader literature on racial gaps in social outcomes in the United States.