Do Anti-Bullying Laws Reduce Youth Violence?

Joseph J. Sabia () and Brittany Bass ()
Additional contact information
Joseph J. Sabia: San Diego State University
Brittany Bass: University of California, Irvine

No 9201, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study is the first to comprehensively examine the effect of state anti-bullying laws (ABLs) on youth violence. Using data from a variety of sources – including the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, Uniform Crime Reports, and newly collected data on school shootings – we find that the enforcement of strict, comprehensive school district anti-bullying policies is associated with a 7 to 13 percent reduction in school violence and an 8 to 12 percent reduction in bullying. Our results also show that anti-bullying policy mandates are associated with a reduction in minor teen school shooting deaths and violent crime arrests. A causal interpretation of our results is supported by falsification tests on older young adults for whom ABLs do not bind.

Keywords: anti-bullying laws; youth violence; bullying; school shootings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2015-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published as 'Do anti-bullying laws work? New evidence on school safety and youth violence' in: Journal of Population Economics, 2017, 30 (2), 473 - 502

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