This paper contributes to the literature on temporary migration by developing and solving a model of repeated circular migration that accounts for saving behavior. Using Mexican Migrant Project data on undocumented migrants and non-migrants, I estimate the parameters of the model through the Method of Simulated Moments. The cost of migration and an individual’s preference for residence in Mexic...

Cross-Nativity Marriages and Human Capital Levels of Children A common perception about immigrant assimilation is that association with natives necessarily speeds the process by which immigrants become indistinguishable from natives. Using 2000 Census data, this paper casts doubt on this presumption by examining the effect of an immigrant’s marriage to a native, a measure of social integration,...

Immigrants, English Ability and the Digital Divide This study examines the extent and causes of inequalities in information technology (IT) ownership and use between natives and immigrants in the U.S., focusing on the role of English ability. The results indicate that, during the period 1997-2003, immigrants were significantly less likely to have access to or use a computer and the Internet. Mo...

Prior studies have examined the impact of immigration on native born wages. These studies have relied upon education-experience groups to define labor markets and identify the wage elasticity of supply of immigrants. However, evidence suggests that education is either of different quality or at least treated differently for immigrants leading to potentially biased conclusions. We utilize O*NET ...

Given the different income inequalities between rural, urban and metropolitan areas in Paraguay, the standard Roy model predicts the possibility that a selection bias of rural metropolitan migrants exists. Based on an extended Roy model, which allows for correlation between labor market characteristics and moving cost, I use a switching regression model to evaluate if migrants from rural to met...

In the 1990s, while there was a large decline in property-related crime along the U.S.Mexico border, violent crime rates began to converge to the national average. At the same time, legal and illegal immigration from Mexico surged and border enforcement rose to unprecedented levels. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between border county crime rates, immigration and enforcement sin...

Social Security and Taxation of Labour Subject to Subsidiarity and Freedom of Movement In Europe, the competence for social security and the right to levy income tax lie with the country of employment in cross-border matters. This has two disadvantages. First, the Employment Principle distorts active persons' choice of place of work. Second, the employment-based regulation of state competencies...

The Wage Premium of Foreign Education: New Evidence from Australia We study whether Australian employers recognise immigrants’ education acquired abroad, and if so how. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Immigrants in Australia, we apply interval regression to model migrant hourly earnings. We find substantially higher returns from human capital obtained in Australia and other OECD cou...

By analyzing earnings of observed immigrants workers, the literature on the economic assimilation of immigrants has generally overlooked two potentially important selectivity issues. First, earnings of immigrant workers may differ substantially from those of non-workers. Second, earnings of immigrants who do not return to their native country may differ from earnings of outmigrants. Economic th...

We explore how immigrant legal status affects safety net transfers using variation from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which authorized the largest U.S. amnesty to date. Exploiting the timing and geographic unevenness in intensity of IRCA’s legalization programs, we estimate a sizable effect of permanent residency on Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) transfers. By contrast...