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Steven Raphael

Professor and James D. Marver Chair in Public Policy

Steven Raphael is a Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and holds the James D. Marver Chair at the Goldman School of Public Policy. His research focuses on the economics of low-wage labor markets, housing, and the economics of crime and corrections.  His most recent research focuses on the social consequences of the large increases in U.S. incarceration rates and racial disparities in criminal justice outcomes.  Raphael also works on immigration policy, research questions pertaining to various aspects of racial inequality, the economics of labor unions, social insurance policies, homelessness, and low-income housing.  Raphael is the author (with Michael Stoll) of Why Are so Many Americans in Prison? (published by the Russell Sage Foundation Press) and The New Scarlet Letter? Negotiating the U.S. Labor Market with a Criminal Record (published by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research).  Raphael is research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the California Policy Lab, the  University of Michigan National Poverty Center, the University of Chicago Crime Lab, IZA, Bonn Germany, and the Public Policy Institute of California.  Raphael holds a Ph.D. in economics from UC Berkeley.

Contact and Office Hours

Office Office 2607 Hearst, Room 310

Clock Office Hours

Wednesdays 12:00 - 2:00 PM and by appointment

About

Areas of Expertise

  • Labor and Employment
  • Race & Ethnicity
  • Criminal Justice
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Economic Policy
  • Program Evaluation
  • Housing & Urban Policy
  • Immigration
  • Poverty & Inequality
  • Discrimination
  • Employment Discrimination
  • Labor Economics
  • Racial Inequality
  • Urban Economics

Curriculum Vitae

Research

Working Papers

The Effect of Scaling Back Punishment on Racial Disparities in Criminal Case Outcomes

Co-author: John MacDonald

Working Paper: September 2019 (September 2019)

The Effect of Sentencing Reform on Crime Rates: Evidence from California’s Proposition 47

Co-authors: Patricio Dominguez Rivera, Magnus Lofstrom

Working Paper: August 2019 (August 2019)

Managing Pretrial Misconduct: An Experimental Evaluation of HOPE Pretrial

Co-authors: Janet Davdison, George King, Jens Ludwig

Working Paper: January 2019 (January 2019)

Racial Disparities in ther Asquisition of Juvenile Arrest Records

Co-author: Sandra Rozo

Working Paper (August 2017)

The Effect of Mandatory Minimum Punishments on the Efficiency of Criminal Justice Resource Allocation

Co-author: Sarah Tahamont

Working Paper (August 2017)

Selected Publications

Illegality: A Contemporary Portrait of Immigration

Gonzales, Roberto G., and Steven Raphael (2017), “Illegality: A Contemporary Portrait of Immigration,” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 3(4): 1–17.

Prison Downsizing and Public Safety

Lofstrom, Magnus and Steven Raphael (2016), “Prison Downsizing and Public Safety,” Criminology and Public Policy, 15(2): 349-365.

Crime, the Criminal Justice System, and Socioeconomic Inequality

Lofstrom, Magnus and Steven Raphael (2016), “Crime, the Criminal Justice System, and Socioeconomic Inequality,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(2): 103-126.

Incarceration and Crime: Evidence from California's Public Safety Realignment

Lofstrom, Magnus and Steven Raphael (2016), “Incarceration and Crime: Evidence from California’s Public Safety Realignment,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 664(1): 196-220.

The Role of the Cost-of-Crime Literature in Bridging the Gap Between Social Science Research and Policy Making

Dominguez, Patricio and Steven Raphael (2015), "The Role of the Cost-of-Crime Literature in Bridging the Gap Between Social Science Research and Policy Making", Criminology and Public Policy, 14(4): 589-632.

In the News

Articles and Op-Eds

Media Citations

Webcasts

Criminal Justice Reform in California

Criminal Justice Reform in California

Steven Raphael,

Date: August 13, 2020 Duration: 19 minutes

Prison Reform: Alternatives to Mass Incarceration

Prison Reform: Alternatives to Mass Incarceration

Steven Raphael, Henry E. Brady,

Date: May 16, 2016 Duration: 29 minutes

2009 Wildavsky Forum Panel Discussion: Changing Inequality: What produces and changes levels of inequality?

2009 Wildavsky Forum Panel Discussion: Changing Inequality: What produces and changes levels of inequality?

Dr. Rebecca M. Blank, Lee Friendman, Mike Hout, Steven Raphael, Robert Reich,

Event: 2009 Wildavsky Forum - Dr. Rebecca Blank

Date: March 13, 2009 Duration: 117 minutes

Last updated on 07/25/2023