Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/130459 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5822
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We analyze the effect of immigrants’ legal status on their consumption behavior using unique survey data that samples both documented and undocumented immigrants. To address the problem of sorting into legal status, we propose two alternative identification strategies as exogenous source of variation for current legal status: First, transitory income shocks in the home country, measured as rainfall shocks at the time of emigration. Second, amnesty quotas that grant legal residence status to undocumented immigrants. Both sources of variation create a strong first stage, and – although very different in nature – lead to similar estimates of the effects of illegal status on consumption, with undocumented immigrants consuming about 40% less than documented immigrants, conditional on background characteristics. Roughly one quarter of this decrease is explained by undocumented immigrants having lower incomes than documented immigrants. Our findings imply that legalization programs may have a potentially important effect on immigrants’ consumption behavior, with consequences for both the source and host countries.
Subjects: 
legal status
weather shocks
consumption behavior
JEL: 
F22
D12
K42
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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