In:
Urban Studies, SAGE Publications, Vol. 59, No. 14 ( 2022-11), p. 3005-3021
Abstract:
This paper estimates the causal effect of repeated exposure to violent crime on test scores in New York City. We use two empirical strategies; value-added models linking student performance on standardised exams to violent crimes on students’ residential block, and a regression discontinuity approach that identifies the acute effect of additional crime exposure within a one-week window. Exposure to violent crime reduces academic performance. Value-added models suggest the average effect is very small (approximately −0.01 standard deviations) but grows with repeated exposure. Regression discontinuity (RD) models also find a larger effect among children previously exposed. The marginal acute effect is as large as −0.04 standard deviations for students with two or more prior exposures. Among these, it is almost one tenth of a standard deviation for Black students. We provide credible causal evidence that repeated exposure to neighbourhood violence harms test scores, and this negative effect increases with exposure.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0042-0980
,
1360-063X
DOI:
10.1177/00420980211052149
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
5372-7
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1482794-3
SSG:
14
SSG:
3,4
