American Economic Review Vol. 105 No. 5 2015
Effects of Immigrant Legalization on Crime
Abstract
I examine the effects that the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which legalized almost 3 million immigrants, had on crime in the United States. I exploit the IRCA's quasi-random timing as well as geographic variation in the intensity of treatment to isolate causal impacts. I find decreases in crime of 3-5 percent, primarily due to decline in property crimes, equivalent to 120,000-180,000 fewer violent and property crimes committed each year due to legalization. I calibrate a labor market model of crime, finding that much of the drop in crime can be explained by greater labor market opportunities among applicants.
- DOI
- 10.1257/aer.p20151041
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 210-213
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref