As the Supreme Court considers overturning Roe v. Wade, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research on an unintended consequence of the 1973 ruling….
With abortion on the Nov. 5 ballot, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research about an unintended consequence of Roe v. Wade….
The controversial theory linking Roe v. Wade to a massive crime drop is back in the spotlight as several states introduce abortion restrictions. Steve Levitt and John Donohue discuss their…
…in these states, with property crime (done by younger people) falling before violent crime. 2) After abortion was legalized, the availability of abortions differed dramatically across states. In some states…
…legalized abortion on crime. John and Steve talk about guns, the death penalty, the heat they took from their joint research, and why it’s frustratingly difficult to prove truth in…
…Doing the instrumental variables estimation has a bigger impact on property crime than on violent crime. All four of the instrumental variables estimates of legalized abortion on property crime are…
…for recent crime trends as well as to determine their permanence. The lower that crime rates plunge, and the more that budgets are cut for crime prevention and crime control…
…legalized abortion reduces the number of unwanted children. Consequently, legalized abortion lowers crime in the future. So what does the steady decline in abortions performed in recent years predict for…
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz combs through mountains of information to find advice for everyday life….
After the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, doctors in some states are concerned that delivering treatment could put them in legal jeopardy. Bapu Jena looks at how the practice of “defensive…
The philosopher known for his rigorous ethics explains why Steve is leading a morally inconsistent life….
…declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well — CALLER: Well, I don’t think…
…abortion and crime. When changes in the numbers are due to shifts in the demand curve for abortion, the relationship between abortion and crime is actually positive! Here’s another way…
Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the political aisle.
Why are humans so eager for magic-bullet solutions? Can you explain how a pen works? And how does Angela feel about being forever branded “the grit lady”?…
…abortion services. Though legal, abortion is much harder to come by than one might expect: while 97% of ob-gyns reported having encountered women seeking an abortion, only 14% said they…
We are constantly wowed by new technologies and policies meant to make childbirth better. But beware the unintended consequences.
In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address this problem — and, with it, America’s…
When the world went into lockdown, experts predicted a rise in intimate-partner assaults. What actually happened was more complicated….
From domestic abusers to former child soldiers, there is increasing evidence that behavioral therapy can turn them around.
…falling crime, more falling crime just isn’t newsworthy. While the pundits are eager to start explaining the many reasons for this “sharp rise” in violent crime, my view is that…
…drop in crime (for a measure of an abortion-crime correlation in these states in conjunction with a similar relationship in the other, later states, helped establish a causal link between…
…crime. Crime rates today are a lot lower than they used to be, but crime still imposes enormous costs on society. In addition to the costs associated with the suffering…
…suburbs will have easy access to an abortion. And anyone living in Mexico could travel here for an abortion. The quotes that McKinley provides from opposing sides of the abortion…
…Steeper Rise From the Los Angeles Times: Violent Crime Rises Again From the Philadelphia Inquirer: Rise in Violent Crimes is Higher than Expected It is official. The next crime wave…
The U.S. is an outlier when it comes to policing, as evidenced by more than 1,000 fatal shootings by police each year. But we’re an outlier in other ways too:…
Video In the video player on the left, you’ll find Part 2 of Levitt’s discussion of the research behind the abortion/crime link. (You can find Part 1 in the video…
Because the abortion/crime theory put forward by Steve Levitt and John Donohue in this 2001 paper was so jarring, on so many levels, it drew great interest and occasional controversy….
A Texas State Senator has been ridiculed for his proposal to pay women $500 if they show up at an abortion clinic, elect not to have an abortion, and then…
Sure, sex crimes are horrific, and the perpetrators deserve to be punished harshly. But society keeps exacting costs — out-of-pocket and otherwise — long after the prison sentence has been…
