TY  - JOUR
AU  - Corman,Hope
AU  - Noonan,Kelly
AU  - Reichman,Nancy E.
AU  - Schwartz-Soicher,Ofira
TI  - Crime and Circumstance: The Effects of Infant Health Shocks on Fathers' Criminal Activity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12754
PY  - 2006
Y2  - December 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12754
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12754.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Hope Corman
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Tel: 609/895-5559
Fax: 609/896-5387
E-Mail: corman@rider.edu

Kelly Noonan
Department of Economics
Rider University
2083 Lawrence Road, Room SWG 306
Lawrenceville, NJ  08648
Tel: 609/895-5539
E-Mail: knoonan@rider.edu

Nancy Reichman
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey
97 Paterson St., Room 435
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
E-Mail: reichmne@umdnj.edu

Ofira Schwartz-Soicher
18 Marvin Court
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
E-Mail: schwarof@umdnj.edu
AB  - Few studies in the economics literature have linked individuals' criminal behavior to changes in their personal circumstances. Life shocks, such as natural or personal disasters, could reduce or sever a person's connections to his/her family, job, or community. With fewer connections, crime may become a more attractive option. This study addresses the question of whether an exogenous shock in life circumstances affects criminal activity. Specifically, we estimate the effects of the birth of a child with a random and serious health problem (versus the birth of a healthy infant) on the likelihood that the child's father becomes or remains involved in illegal activities. Controlling for the father's pre-birth criminal activity, we find that the shock of having a child with a serious health problem increases both the father's post-birth conviction and incarceration by 1 to 8 percentage points, depending on the measure of infant health used.
ER  -