Mallar, Charles D., and Craig V. D. Thornton. 1978. "Transitional Aid for Released Prisoners: Evidence from the LIFE Experiment." Journal of Human Resources 13(2):208-236.

Findings are presented from a controlled experiment designed to test the effectiveness of transitional aid programs for ex-prisoners in reducing theft crimes. Upon release from prison, a sample of men with high (ex ante) probabilities of committing theft crimes were enrolled in treatment and control groups. One year after release, a group receiving financial aid had significantly fewer arrests for theft crimes than did the controls. Calculations of the social benefit/cost ratio show that the benefits of transitional income maintenance substantially outweighed the costs. In contrast, the provision of job-placement assistance turned out to have no significant effect on post-release behavior.

Mallar is Senior Research Economist at Mathematical Policy Research, on leave from Johns Hopkins University. Thornton is a Research Economist at Mathematica Policy Research. Financial support for this research paper was received from the American Bar Association, from the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (Grant 21-11-75-19), and from Mathematica Policy Research. Helpful comments on a previous draft were received from the editor and referees of this Journal. The conclusions drawn and any factual errors that remain are the sole responsibility of the authors.

© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

US ISSN 0022-166X

Return to JHR Home Page