%0 Report
        %A Jinkins, David Carson
%A Kuka, Elira
%A Labanca, Claudio
        %T Welfare Programs and Crime Spillovers
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Jun
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 17958
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp17958
        %X Research on the social safety net examines its effects on recipients and their families. We show that these effects extend beyond recipients’ families. Using a regression discontinuity design and administrative data, we study a Danish policy that cut welfare benefits for refugees, increasing crime among affected individuals. Linking refugees to neighbors, we find increased crime among non-Danish neighbors, with spillovers persisting even after direct effects stabilize. Accounting for these spillovers raises the marginal value of public funds by 20%. We explore several mechanisms and find evidence consistent with peer effects among young individuals from the same country of origin.
        %K spillovers
%K welfare programs
%K crime