 The fiscal effects of immigration on local governments: Revisiting the Mariel BoatliftTravis St. Clair Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2024, vol. 109, issue C Abstract: Immigration raises important political and economic questions, yet there remains considerable disagreement about its short- and long-term consequences. This paper examines the fiscal consequences of immigration for local governments. Previous work has highlighted the gap between the long-term economic benefits of immigration and the short-term fiscal burden posed by recent arrivals, however several influential estimates based on cash-flow accounting suffer from potential bias. I use a quasi-experimental approach to re-examine a famous case: the large wave of Cuban refugees that landed in Miami in 1980, otherwise known as the Mariel Boatlift. Using a synthetic control design, I find that per-pupil education costs increased in Miami in the aftermath of the Boatlift, financed by an increase in state transfers. These effects persisted for at least ten years. The results shed light on the heterogeneous impacts of immigration over time and space. Keywords: Immigration; Public finance; Synthetic control (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:regeco:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s016604622400084x DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2024.104053 Access Statistics for this article Regional Science and Urban Economics is currently edited by D.P McMillen and Y. Zenou More articles in Regional Science and Urban Economics from Elsevier |
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