Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA

Elira Kuka, Na'ama Shenhav and Kevin Shih

No 24315, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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 U.S. as children to implement a difference-in-differences design that compares non-citizen 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%. We also find positive, though imprecise, impacts on college attendance.

JEL-codes: I20 I26 J1 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-02
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Published as Elira Kuka & Na’ama Shenhav & Kevin Shih, 2020. "Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, vol 12(1), pages 293-324.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA (2020)
Working Paper: Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA (2018)
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