Electronic monitoring (EM) has established itself as a highly popular tool for curbing the growth of the prison population. However, data on the causal effects of EM on reoffending are limited, and it remains unclear how this alternative to imprisonment affects offenders’ employment and the circumstances of their families. The authors examine the nationwide roll-out of electronic monitoring in Sweden in 1997, under which offenders sentenced to a maximum of three months’ imprisonment were offered the option of replacing imprisonment with electronic monitoring. Estimates using the difference-in-differences method – which compares changes in the rate of prison admission among the offenders concerned with that of unaffected offenders serving slightly longer sentences – show that the reform significantly reduced the number of incarcerations.
The effects of electronic monitoring on offenders and their families
Presentation
Key Results
The main finding is that electronic monitoring not only reduces reoffending but also increases employment. Furthermore, it improves the educational attainment and early-life earnings of children whose parents have benefited from this reform. The main mechanisms through which electronic monitoring works appear to involve maintaining offenders’ links with the labour market, by reducing barriers to both finding a job and changing employers. The authors’ calculations suggest that the social benefits arising from electronic monitoring are around seven times greater than the budgetary savings linked to reduced prison expenditure, implying that the gains in well-being resulting from electronic monitoring could be far greater than previously thought.
