Lead and Juvenile Delinquency: New Evidence from Linked Birth, School and Juvenile Detention Records by Anna Aizer, Janet Currie :: SSRN

NBER Working Paper No. w23392

61 Pages Posted: 8 May 2017 Last revised: 2 Jun 2023

Brown University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Princeton University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Date Written: May 2017

Using a unique dataset linking preschool blood lead levels (BLLs), birth, school, and detention data for 120,000 children born 1990-2004 in Rhode Island, we estimate the impact of lead on behavior: school suspensions and juvenile detention. We develop two instrumental variables approaches to deal with potential confounding from omitted variables and measurement error in lead. The first leverages the fact that we have multiple noisy measures for each child. The second exploits very local, within neighborhood, variation in lead exposure that derives from road proximity and the de-leading of gasoline. Both methods indicate that OLS considerably understates the negative effects of lead, suggesting that measurement error is more important than bias from omitted variables. A one-unit increase in lead increased the probability of suspension from school by 6.4-9.3 percent and the probability of detention by 27-74 percent, though the latter applies only to boys.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

64 Waterman StreetProvidence, RI 02912United States401-863-3836 (Phone)

1050 Massachusetts AvenueCambridge, MA 02138United States

Princeton, NJ 08544-1021United States6092587393 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.princeton.edu/~jcurrie

1050 Massachusetts AvenueCambridge, MA 02138United States

P.O. Box 7240Bonn, D-53072Germany