Clicking on Heaven's Door: The Effect of Immigrant Legalization on Crime
- (pp. 138-68)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We estimate the effect of immigrant legalization on the crime rate of immigrants in Italy by exploiting an ideal regression discontinuity design: fixed quotas of residence permits are available each year, applications must be submitted electronically on specific "click days," and are processed on a first come, first served basis until the available quotas are exhausted. Matching data on applications with individual-level criminal records, we show that legalization reduces the crime rate of legalized immigrants by 0.6 percentage points on average, on a baseline crime rate of 1.1 percent.Citation
Pinotti, Paolo. 2017. "Clicking on Heaven's Door: The Effect of Immigrant Legalization on Crime." American Economic Review, 107 (1): 138-68. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150355Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- K37 Immigration Law
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law