Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/207381 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12555
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Since the September 11 attacks (9/11), the U.S. has seen a tightening of immigration policies. Previous studies find that stricter immigration enforcement has the unintended effect of pushing undocumented immigrants into self-employment. This paper builds on the literature to better understand the changes in the types of self-employment among Mexican immigrants triggered by the tightened immigration enforcement after 9/11. Using a difference-in-differences approach, and the recently developed measures by Fairlie and Fossen [2018] to distinguish between necessity and opportunity self-employment, we find that both necessity and opportunity self-employment increased among Mexican immigrants after 9/11. However, the effect is most prominent on necessity self-employment, consistent with the hypothesis that they are pushed into self-employment as a survival alternative.
Subjects: 
mexican immigrants
self-employment
9/11
tightened immigration policies
necessity
JEL: 
J15
L26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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