The Relationship between Job Quality and Crime: Examining Heterogeneity in Treatment and Treatment Effect

Abstract

Objectives: This study evaluates the relationship between employment and crime through a holistic evaluation of both treatment and treatment effect heterogeneity. Methods: This study implements a perceptual measure of job quality (job satisfaction) and hybrid fixed effects models among a sample of high-risk adults. Analyses also consider the robustness of findings across alternative operationalizations of job quality and various sample subgroups. Results: Transitioning from not working to working in the lowest quality job can be criminogenic. Among those who are working, an improvement in job quality is not generally associated with offending. However, model and crime-specific effects are observed. Evidence of treatment effect heterogeneity is also found, suggesting the effect of job quality is moderated by race/ethnicity and location. Conclusions: These findings caution criminologists against making an assumption that employment is inversely related to offending and call into question our understanding of job quality as a general disincentive for crime. Rather, evidence suggests that improvements in job quality may result in modest reductions in offending, but only for certain types of crime and certain individuals within specific labor market contexts.