Date of Award

1-1-2017

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Economics

Content Description

1 online resource (ii, x, 154 pages)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Byoung Park

Committee Members

Byoung Park, Shawn D Bushway, Kajal Lahiri

Keywords

Criminal background checks, Disparate impact, Instrumental variables, New York State, Partial identification, Recidivism, Employee screening, Ex-convicts

Subject Categories

Labor Economics | Public Policy

Abstract

Individuals with criminal records face significant barriers to employment, -- a concern which has become stronger in an era of widespread criminal background checks. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently drawn attention to the need to balance employers' concerns about the potential risk of hiring such individuals, with increasing employment opportunities for individuals with criminal records, particularly if they are low risk. Despite a large number of individuals with criminal records in the United States working age population, there has been no research to demonstrate the implications of such background checks used for employment determination. This dissertation consists of three chapters that seek to answer different aspects of this question in the context of the New York State healthcare industry.

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