The Impact of Amnesty on Labor Market Outcomes: A Panel Study Using the Legalized Population Survey

Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes and Cynthia Bansak

No 5576, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper tests whether amnesty, a provision of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), affected the labor market outcomes of the legalized population. Using the Legalized Population Survey (LPS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) from 1987-1992, a quasi-experimental framework is developed to assess the differential impact of amnesty on the legalized population relative to a comparison group. After the implementation of the amnesty program, employment fell and unemployment rose for newly legalized men relative to the comparison group of already legal U.S. residents. For women, employment also fell and transitions out of the workforce increased among the newly legalized population. Increasing returns to skill, as captured by English proficiency, only played an important role in explaining the employment of newly legalized women. Finally, newly legalized men and women enjoyed higher wage growth rates than their working native counterparts, perhaps owing to their comparatively growing returns to U.S. educational attainment over this period.

Keywords: labor market; Legalized Population Survey; legalization; amnesty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2011-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (58)

Published - published in: Industrial Relations, 2011, 50 (3), 443-471.

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Impact of Amnesty on Labor Market Outcomes: A Panel Study Using the Legalized Population Survey (2011)
Working Paper: The Impact of Amnesty on Labor Market Outcomes: A Panel Study Using the Legalized Population Survey (2011)
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