Does border enforcement protect US workers from illegal immigration?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hanson, GH; Robertson, R; Spilimbergo, A
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; National Bureau of Economic Research; Macalester College; International Monetary Fund
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/003465302317331937
• 发表日期: 2002-02
• 页码: 73-92
• 关键词: relative wages; earnings

摘要

In this paper, we examine the impact of enforcement of the U.S.-Mexico border on wages in U.S. and Mexican border regions. The U.S. Border Patrol polices U.S. boundaries, seeking to apprehend any undocumented entrants. It concentrates its efforts on the Mexican border. We examine labor markets in border areas of California, Texas, and Mexico. For each region, we have high-frequency data on wages and person-hours the U.S. Border Patrol spends policing the border. For a range of empirical specifications and definitions of regional labor markets, we find little impact of border enforcement on wages in U.S. border cities and a moderate negative impact of border enforcement on wages in Mexican border cities. These findings are consistent with two hypotheses: border enforcement has a minimal impact on illegal immigration, and illegal immigration from Mexico has a minimal impact on wages in U.S. border areas.