School funding, pupil performance and crime: a quasi-experimental study

教育程度低通常被认为是犯罪行为的驱动因素。然而，几乎没有证据支持教育与犯罪之间存在因果关系，这不仅仅是因为难以控制影响教育和犯罪的因素，如儿童家庭收入。越来越多的证据表明，特别是来自美国的证据表明，学校资金的增加不仅提高了学生的成绩，而且还影响了犯罪等非认知结果。作为研究金的一部分进行的研究将测试两个历史悠久的学校资助计划是否已被证明提高了学术成就，也有减少学生在教育和/或成年后犯罪的机会的效果。它将使用应用微观计量经济学的最新技术来确定因果关系，超越教育和犯罪的简单统计联系，并为政策提供强有力的证据。这项研究的结果可能对我们如何看待增加学校开支的好处产生广泛的影响，不仅仅是提高学习成绩，而是使年轻人，特别是处境不利的学生，在社会中有更大的利害关系，减少他们犯罪的风险。该项目将提供严格的分析，并从一开始就吸引政策和学术利益攸关方的参与。

Low educational attainment is commonly identified as a driver of criminal behaviour. However, there is little evidence to support a causal relationship between education and crime, not least because of the challenge of controlling for factors that affect both education and crime, such as childhood household income. There is a growing evidence base, particularly from the US, that increases in school funding not only improves the attainment of pupils but also affects non-cognitive outcomes such as crime. The study conducted as part of the fellowship will test whether two historic school funding programmes that have been shown to have raised academic attainment also had the effect of reducing the chances of pupils committing crime whilst in education and/or afterwards into adulthood. It will use the latest techniques of applied microeconometrics to identify causal effects to go beyond simple statistical associations of education and crime and provide robust evidence for policy. The results of the study may have wide implications for how we think about the benefits of increased expenditure on schools, beyond simply improving academic results and towards giving young people, particularly disadvantaged pupils, a greater stake in society that reduces the risk of them committing crime. The project will deliver rigorous analysis and engage policy and academic stakeholders from the beginning.