Permanent School Closures and Crime: Evidence from Scotland

Daniel Borbely, Markus Gehrsitz (), Stuart McIntyre () and Gennaro Rossi ()
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Markus Gehrsitz: University of Strathclyde
Stuart McIntyre: University of Strathclyde
Gennaro Rossi: University of Strathclyde

No 16523, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In this article we study the effects of permanent school closures on crime. We leverage the closure of over 300 schools in Scotland between the school years 2006/07 and 2018/19, and employ a staggered difference-in-differences design on a matched sample. We find that neighbourhoods affected by school closures experience a reduction in crime of about 9% of a standard deviation, relative to areas where schools remained open. This effect is mainly driven by a reduction in violent and property crimes. We provide evidence on several mechanisms explaining the negative crime effect, such as changes in neighbourhood composition and reductions in school-level segregation.

Keywords: crime; school closures; neighbourhoods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 K42 R20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2023-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Working Paper: Permanent School Closures and Crime: Evidence from Scotland (2023)
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