894372
doi
10.1257/aer.p20151041
oai:zenodo.org:894372
Effects of Immigrant Legalization on Crime †
Baker, Scott R.
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
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.
Zenodo
2015-05-01
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
894371
1579541899.49697
514778
md5:ceb4c241475998ddad731ba10df65274
https://zenodo.org/records/894372/files/article.pdf
public