It also inspired a followup book, superfreakonomics. Levitt study and used it as justification for promoting. Daily chart greater access to abortion may have reduced americas crime rate. Levitt, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The abortion cuts crime hypothesis never did much to inform the ongoing publicpolicy debate over life issues. Wade to a massive crime drop is back in the spotlight as several states introduce abortion restrictions. In 1994, when the crime rate started to drop, a child born in 1973 was 21 and a child who wasnt born in 1973, because the. Freakonomics, market populism and that abortionandcrime theory. Freakonomics chapter 4 summary and analysis gradesaver. Daily chart greater access to abortion may have reduced. They followed the children of 188 women who were denied abortions. Video in the video player on the left, youll find part 2 of levitts discussion of the research behind the abortion crime link. If youve ever read freakonomics, the namesake book of this show, you may recall this controversial link between legalized abortion and the. Steve levitt and john donohue discuss their original research, the challenges to its legitimacy, and their updated analysis.
He studies the riddles of everyday lifefrom cheating and crime to parenting and sportsand reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head. The book basically explores interesting questions that defy conventional wisdom which isnt as wise as you might think. The abortion cuts crime hypothesis never did much to inform the. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between levitt and stephen j.
What levitt and his coauthor claimed, specifically, was. Two economists questioned the assertion in the book freakonomics that the legalization of abortion was linked to a drop in crime. Levitt expands on the crime and abortion correlation previously discussed in the books introduction. Freakonomics abortion research is faulted by a pair of economists. The effect of legalized abortion on crime also the donohuelevitt hypothesis is a hypothesized controversial reduction in crime in the decades following the legalization of abortion, as a result of fewer children at the highest risk of committing crime being born due to the availability of the procedure. Freakonomics is at the heart of everything we see and do and the subjects that bedevil us daily. Freakonomics a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. Levitt went on to coauthor the 2005 bestseller freakonomics, in which he reiterated his thesis that the legalization of abortion is responsible for half of the recent drop in violent crime.
The question about abortion and crime was greatly influenced by a swedish study published in 1966 by hans forssman and inga thuwe. Levitt takes you through his research on the relationship between dropping crime and the legalization of abortion. A new paper estimates that higher abortion rates decreased future crime by up to 20%. That claimfirst demonstrated by john donohue, of yale law school, and steven levitt, of the university of chicago, in an academic article in 2001is the kind of. Freakonomics study guide contains a biography of steven d. I recently finished reading a christmas present, freakonomics by steven levitt and stephen dubner, a book most folks probably read a while ago but hey, i read a book and i have a 1yearold, so cut me some slack. If either assumption 1 or 2 is true, then the crack epidemic can explain some of the rise and fall in crime in the 80s and 90s. Australia, and romania also support the hypothesis that abortion reduces crime. States that had high abortion rates in the 70s were hit harder by the crack epidemic, thus any link between falling crime in the 90s and abortion rates in the 70s is spurious. This idea was further popularized by its inclusion in the book freakonomics, which levitt cowrote.
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