Feinstein, Leon; (2002) Quantitative Estimates of the Social Benefits of Learning 1: Crime [Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report No. 5]. Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, Institute of Education, University of London: London.

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Abstract

The wider benefits of learning represent a new and exciting topic of study. There is considerable uncertainty about the effects of learning but a widely held belief that many aspects of life are improved by education, with considerable plausible benefits for the economy. This report describes the available, robust quantitative evidence for effects of learning on crime and models the cost implications of this evidence. Estimations are made in terms of the savings in the reduced social cost of crime if educational investments were successful. The report stresses the importance of estimation techniques that deal with confounding factors and other sources of bias, particularly the selection bias that results from the fact that people with higher levels of education receive benefits that may be due to a common set of underlying advantages that influence both education and the outcome variables. Econometric techniques are used to deal with this problem. Despite these techniques, a great many assumptions are required in order to develop costed benefits of education based on the information available. These assumptions are described in the report and the uncertainty they introduce must be remembered when interpreting the results. The exercise has been conducted as a first step in the Wider Benefits of Learning Research Centre programme of quantitative research. All conclusions are therefore given tentatively and thought of as indicative only.

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