Driver’s license reforms and job accessibility among undocumented immigrants

Heepyung Cho

Labour Economics, 2022, vol. 76, issue C

Abstract: I analyze how allowing undocumented immigrants to legally obtain driver’s licenses shifts commuting patterns, increases job accessibility, and improves labor market outcomes. Using state- and nativity-level variation in reforms, I show that granting driving privileges to the undocumented increases vehicle ownership and the probability of car commute by 3 percentage points. This improvement in accessibility leads to a 1 percentage point increase in the employment rate. The employment effects are larger in low-accessibility localities, which are more rural and entail longer commuting times. Undocumented immigrants exhibit stronger positive employment effects in more vehicle-dependent occupations. These findings highlight the quantitative importance of transportation barriers in determining the labor market outcomes of minority workers.

Keywords: Spatial mismatch; Immigration policy; Labor market; Commuting; Undocumented immigrants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J60 J61 K37 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s0927537122000653

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102174

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