Delinquency, schooling, and work: time allocation decision of youth

Abstract

This paper examines the possible factors that affect the time allocation decision of youth between delinquency, schooling, and work. Based on a joint-decision model, evidence from Montreal shows that influences from different social institutions such as family, church, school, peers, and the workplace are important determinants of how young people decide to spend their time on various activities. The findings provided here take into account the joint-decision nature of the problem and therefore provide more precise estimates than those of the existing literature.