American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Immigration, Employment Opportunities, and Criminal Behavior
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 10,
no. 2, May 2018
(pp. 117–51)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We take advantage of provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which granted legal resident status to long-time unauthorized residents but created new obstacles to employment for more recent immigrants, to explore how employment opportunities affect criminal behavior. Exploiting administrative data on the criminal justice involvement of individuals in San Antonio, Texas and using a triple-differences strategy, we find evidence of an increase in felony charges filed against residents most likely to be negatively affected by IRCA's employment regulations. Our results suggest a strong relationship between access to legal jobs and criminal behavior.Citation
Freedman, Matthew, Emily Owens, and Sarah Bohn. 2018. "Immigration, Employment Opportunities, and Criminal Behavior." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 10 (2): 117–51. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150165Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- K37 Immigration Law
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
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