American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 12,
no. 1, February 2020
(pp. 293–324)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
This paper studies human capital responses to the availability of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary work authorization and deferral from deportation for undocumented, high-school-educated youth. We use a sample of young adults that migrated to the United States as children to implement a difference-in-difference design that compares noncitizen immigrants ("eligible") to citizen immigrants ("ineligible") over time. We find that DACA significantly increased high school attendance and high school graduation rates, reducing the citizen-noncitizen gap in graduation by 40 percent. We also find positive, though imprecise, impacts on college attendance.Citation
Kuka, Elira, Na'ama Shenhav, and Kevin Shih. 2020. "Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 12 (1): 293–324. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180352Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H52 National Government Expenditures and Education
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I26 Returns to Education
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment