The origins of intergenerational associations in crime: Lessons from Swedish adoption data

Randi Hjalmarsson and Matthew Lindquist

Labour Economics, 2013, vol. 20, issue C, 68-81

Abstract: We use Swedish adoption data combined with police register data to study parent–son associations in crime. For adopted sons born in Sweden, we have access to the criminal records of both the adopting and biological parents. This allows us to assess the relative importance of pre-birth factors (genes, prenatal environment and perinatal conditions) and post-birth factors for generating parent–son associations in crime. When considering the extensive margin, we find that pre-birth and post-birth factors are both important determinants of sons' convictions and that mothers and fathers contribute equally through these two channels. At the intensive margin, pre-birth factors still matter, however post-birth factors appear to dominate. In particular, adopting mothers appear to matter most for the probability that sons will be convicted of multiple crimes and/or be sentenced to prison. We find little evidence of interaction effects between biological and adoptive parents' criminal convictions. Having more highly educated adoptive parents, however, does appear to mitigate the impact of biological parents' criminality.

Keywords: Adoption; Crime; Illegal behavior; Intergenerational crime; Intergenerational mobility; Risky behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J62 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (35)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Origins of Intergenerational Associations in Crime: Lessons from Swedish Adoption Data (2011)
Working Paper: The Origins of Intergenerational Associations in Crime: Lessons from Swedish Adoption Data (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:20:y:2013:i:c:p:68-81

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2012.11.001

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