ESSAYS ON ECONOMICS OF LAW, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

The 1960’s was a decade of radical changes in the political and economic structure of the United States. Not only was this a time of significant economic growth but this was also accompanied with legislative changes and reform. These reforms were reflected within the War on Poverty which implemented programs geared towards health, education, opportunity, and employment. But imbedded in the War on Poverty was legislative changes that increased access to medical coverage, the voting booth, and fair treatment regardless of race and gender. These reforms aimed to strengthen families and increase access to economic and political institutions. These reforms also occurred during the same time that crime rates and divorce rates in the United States began to rise dramatically. The increase in crime and divorce rates may be coincidental or influenced by the same events. Whether or not these two are linked, many social policies over the last 50 years have been implemented to strengthen families and reduce crime. Considering the timing of these events, my dissertation investigates the links between social reform, crime, and divorce. Crime as well as divorce, are both highly researched areas in economics. Previous studies on crime and divorce use Becker models as a baseline but empirically rely on plausibly