Working Papers

• Do Mental Health Parity Laws Reduce Crime?

Presented at APPAM Conference March 2022; Southern Economic Association Meetings, Nov 2021

Abstract:  

Individuals with mental illness are significantly over-represented in US jails. Prior research shows that expanding access to comprehensive health insurance coverage through Medicaid reduces criminality. However, little is known about the specific effects of mental health insurance coverage on crime. In this paper, I study whether increased access to mental health care, following the passage of state-level Mental Health Parity Laws (MHPLs), affects crime. I use county-level crime data from 1994 to 2010 and exploit temporal and geographic variation in the passage of MHPLs to estimate a causal link. I implement a difference-in-differences research design using two way fixed effects models, along with recent estimators that allow for treatment effect heterogeneity. Results indicate that the passage of MHPLs reduced reported violent crime by 5-7% -- driven by a substantial decrease in aggravated assault.

• New Evidence on the Impact of Mental Health Parity Laws and Mental Health Outcomes (Draft Available on Request)

Presented at American Society of Health Economics Conference 2021

Work in Progress

• "County Level Opioid Abuse and Children's Educational Outcomes" with Josh Kinsler