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

Elira Kuka, Na'ama Shenhav and Kevin Shih

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2020, vol. 12, issue 1, 293-324

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.

JEL-codes: H52 I21 I26 J13 J15 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA (2018)
Working Paper: Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA (2018)
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180352

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