TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Saltiel, Fernando
AU  - Tuttle, Cody
        TI  - Business Cycles and Police Hires
        PY  - 2022/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 15665
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp15665
        AB  - We show that the quality of police hires varies over the business cycle. Officers hired when the unemployment rate is high have fewer complaints, disciplines, and are less likely to be fired than officers hired when the unemployment rate is low. Effects are larger for younger workers who have weaker outside options in recessions. We find that the size and quality of the applicant pool increases in high unemployment years–more people take entry exams and a smaller fraction fail the exam. Our findings shed light on how outside options affect police hires and speak to policy questions about police recruitment.
        KW  - police hiring
KW  - police quality
KW  - public sector labor markets
KW  - outside options
        ER  -