Barriers to Prisoners’ Re-Entry into Formal and Informal Labour Market
Abstract
Aside from academics suggesting that low-physical-attractive prisoners may face difficulty reentering the labour market: permitting employers to access criminal history records aggravates the situation. The current study aims to alleviate this discrimination by generating more beauty premiums to prisoners through cosmetic surgery. The choice experiments (CEs) on hypothetical cosmetic surgery faces of 18 Thai male prisoners were conducted. In which every choice set, the respondents were required to make a tradeoff between beauty and criminal history records. The results show that cosmetic surgery generates beauty premiums to prisoners in both the formal and informal sectors with the odds ratio or increase of the utility of 1.75 and 1.754, respectively. Contrarily, the criminal history records result in discrimination to prisoners’ employments: decreasing job opportunities by 82.8% and 51% in the formal and informal sectors, respectively. The MWTP values show an additional salary to the cosmetic surgery groups for 2,600 baht approximately in both sectors. Besides contributing to the literature, the current study sheds light on the importance of physical appearance and criminal history records as one of the main barriers to prisoners’ re-entry. The findings could serve as new knowledge for policymakers to improve the success rate of prisoners’ reintegration.
References
Agan, A., & Starr, S. (2017). The effect of criminal records on access to employment. American Economic Review, 107(5), 560-564.
https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20171003
Ahmed, A. M., & Lång, E. (2017). The employability of ex-offenders: a field experiment in the Swedish labor market. IZA journal of Labor Policy, 6(6), 1-23.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40173-017-0084-2
Aizaki, H. (2012). Basic Functions for Supporting an Implementation of Choice Experiments in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 50(CS2), 1-24.
https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v050.c02
Aizaki, H., & Nishimura, K. (2008). Design and analysis of choice experiments using R: a brief introduction. Agricultural Information Research, 17(2), 86-94.
https://doi.org/10.3173/air.17.86
Babin, J. J., Hussey, A., Nikolsko-Rzhevskyy, A., & Taylor, D. A. (2020). Beauty Premiums Among Academics. Economics of Education Review, 78, 102019.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102019
Ben-Akiva, M., & Lerman, S. R. (2018). Discrete choice analysis: theory and application to travel demand. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Bendick, M., Jackson, C. W., & Reinoso, V. A. (1994). Measuring employment discrimination through controlled experiments. The review of black political economy, 23(1), 25-48.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895739
Berggren, N., Jordahl, H., & Poutvaara, P. (2010). The looks of a winner: Beauty and electoral success. Journal of Public Economics, 94(1), 8-15.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.11.002
Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1974). Physical attractiveness. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 7, 157-215.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60037-4
Biddle, J. E., & Hamermesh, D. S. (1998). Beauty, productivity, and discrimination: Lawyers' looks and lucre. Journal of labor Economics, 16(1), 172-201.
https://doi.org/10.1086/209886
Bóo, F., L., Rossi, M. A., & Urzúa, S. S. (2013). The labor market return to an attractive face: Evidence from a field experiment. Economics Letters, 118(1), 170-172.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2012.10.016
Bushway, S. D. (2004). Labor market effects of permitting employer access to criminal history records. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20(3), 276-291.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986204266890
Cawley, J. (2004). The impact of obesity on wages. Journal of Human resources, 39(2), 451-474.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3559022
Chui, W. H., & Cheng, K. K.Y. (2013). The mark of an ex-prisoner: Perceived discrimination and self-stigma of young men after prison in Hong Kong. Deviant Behavior, 34(8), 671-684.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2013.766532
Decker, S. H., Ortiz, N., Spohn, C., & Hedberg, E. (2015). Criminal stigma, race, and ethnicity: The consequences of imprisonment for employment. Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(2), 108-121.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2015.02.002
Department of Corrections. (2020a). Number of Convicted Prisoners by Type of offences. Retrieved from http://www.correct.go.th/eng/number_by_type_of_offences.html
Department of Corrections. (2020b). Recidivism Statistics Database. Retrieved from http://www.correct.go.th/recstats/index.php/th/sumReportCondition#
Department of Corrections. (2020c). Thailand's prisoner population, 2019. Retrieved from http://www.correct.go.th/rt103pdf/report_result.php?date=2019-07-01&report=
Dipboye, R. L., Arvey, R. D., & Terpstra, D. E. (1977). Sex and physical attractiveness of raters and applicants as determinants of resume evaluations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(3), 288-294.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.62.3.288
Dipboye, R. L., Fromkin, H. L., & Wiback, K. (1975). Relative importance of applicant sex, attractiveness, and scholastic standing in evaluation of job applicant resumes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60(1), 39-43.
https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076352
Eschholz, S. (2002). Racial composition of television offenders and viewers' fear of crime. Critical Criminology, 11(1), 41-60.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021178201580
Fletcher, J. M. (2009). Beauty vs. brains: Early labor market outcomes of high school graduates. Economics Letters, 105(3), 321-325.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2009.09.006
Freedman, A. M., Warren, M. M., Cunningham, L. W., & Blackwell, S. J. (1988). Cosmetic surgery and criminal rehabilitation. Southern medical journal, 81(9), 1113-1116.
https://doi.org/10.1097/00007611-198809000-00012
Hamermesh, D. S., Meng, X., & Zhang, J. (2002). Dress for success-does primping pay? Labour Economics, 9(3), 361-373.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-5371(02)00014-3
Hanley, N., Mourato, S., & Wright, R. E. (2001). Choice modelling approaches: a superior alternative for environmental valuatioin? Journal of economic surveys, 15(3), 435-462.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6419.00145
Harper, B. (2000). Beauty, stature and the labour market: A British cohort study. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 62, 771-800.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0084.0620s1771
Holzer, H. J., Raphael, S., & Stoll, M. A. (2006). Perceived criminality, criminal background checks, and the racial hiring practices of employers. The Journal of Law and Economics, 49(2), 451-480.
https://doi.org/10.1086/501089
International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS). (2018). ISAPS International survey on aesthetic/cosmetic procedure performed in 2017. Retrieved from https://www.isaps.org: https://www.isaps.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ISAPS_2017_International_Study_ Cosmetic_Procedures.pdf
Kim, Y. C., & Loury, G. C. (2018). Rebranding ex-convicts. Journal of Public Economic Theory, 20(3), 356-366.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jpet.12283
Krinsky, I., & Robb, A. L. (1986). On approximating the statistical properties of elasticities. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 715-719.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1924536
Kurtzberg, R., Safar, H., & Mandell, W. (1969). Plastic surgery in corrections. Fed. Probation, 33, 44-47.
Lee, S., & Ryu, K. (2012). Plastic Surgery: Investment in human capital or consumption? Journal of Human Capital, 6(3), 224-250.
https://doi.org/10.1086/667940
Louviere, J. J., & Hensher, D. A. (1982). On the design and analysis of simulated choice or allocation experiments in travel choice modelling. Transportation research record, 890(1982), 11-17.
Louviere, J. J., Hensher, D. A., & Swait, J. D. (2000). Stated choice methods: analysis and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511753831
Louviere, J. J., & Woodworth, G. (1983). Design and analysis of simulated consumer choice or allocation experiments: an approach based on aggregate data. Journal of Marketing Research, 20(4), 350-367.
https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378302000403
McFadden, D. (1973). Conditional logit analysis of qualitative choice behavior.
National Statistical Office Thailand (NSO). (2018). The Informal Employment 2018. Retrieved from http://web.nso.go.th/
Oreffice, S., & Quintana-Domeque, C. (2016). Beauty, body size and wages: Evidence from a unique data set. Economics & Human Biology, 22, 24-34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2016.01.003
Pager, D. (2003). The mark of a criminal record. American journal of sociology, 108(5), 937-975.
https://doi.org/10.1086/374403
Pager, D., Western, B., & Sugie, N. (2009). Sequencing disadvantage: Barriers to employment facing young black and white men with criminal records. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 195-213. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583356/pdf/nihms-439026.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716208330793
Roscoe, J. T. (1975). Fundamental research statistics for the behavioral sciences (2nd Ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Siwach, G. (2018). Unemployment shocks for individuals on the margin: Exploring recidivism effects. Labour Economics, 52, 231-244.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2018.02.001
Sohn, K. (2015). The height premium in Indonesia. Economics & Human Biology, 16, 1-15.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2013.12.011
Solinas-Saunders, M., Stacer, M. J., & Guy, R. (2015). Ex-offender barriers to employment: racial disparities in labor markets with asymmetric information. Journal of Crime & Justice, 38(2), 249-269.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2013.870492
Spira, M., Chizen, J. H., Gerow, F. J., & Hardy, S. B. (1966). Plastic surgery in the Texas prison system. British Journal of Plastic Surgery, 19, 364-371.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-1226(66)80080-2
Tao, H. L. (2014). Height, weight, and entry earnings of female graduates in Taiwan. Economics & Human Biology, 13, 85-98.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2013.12.006
Visher, C. A., Debus-Sherrill, S. A., & Yahner, J. (2011). Employment After Prison: A Longitudinal Study of Former Prisoners. Justice Quarterly, 28(5), 698-718.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2010.535553
Young, N. C. J., & Powell, G. N. (2015). Hiring ex-offenders: A theoretical model. Human Resource Management Review, 25(3), 298-312.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) For subscription articles, the author(s) agree that UNIMAS Publisher holds copyright, or an exclusive license to publish. Readers or users may view, download, print, and copy the content, for academic purposes, subject to the following conditions of use: (a) any reuse of materials is subject to permission from UNIMAS Publisher; (b) archived materials may only be used for academic research; (c) archived materials may not be used for commercial purposes, which include but not limited to monetary compensation by means of sale, resale, license, transfer of copyright, loan, etc.; and (d) archived materials may not be re-published in any part, either in print or online.
4) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
5) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
6) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
