Jillian Carr
Texas A&M University, Department of Economics, Graduate Student
US states maintain sex offender registries in an effort to reduce sex crimes and recidivism. This paper examines the effectiveness of sex offender registries using administrative data from North Carolina. To estimate the causal effect, I... more
US states maintain sex offender registries in an effort to reduce sex crimes and recidivism. This paper examines the effectiveness of sex offender registries using administrative data from North Carolina. To estimate the causal effect, I exploit variation induced by the fact that small differences in the date of initial registry meant that some offenders were removed from the registry after 10 years, while others stayed on it. Regression discontinuity estimates suggest that this increase in registry length does not decrease sex crime recidivism as intended; it may however, reduce an offender’s probability of recidivating with a court procedure-related infraction.
