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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2015
  5. Immigration Enforcement and Crime

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Immigration Enforcement and Crime

  • Paolo Pinotti
American Economic Review
vol. 105, no. 5, May 2015
(pp. 205–09)
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Abstract

Immigration enforcement has ambiguous implications for the crime rate of undocumented immigrants. On the one hand, expulsions reduce the pool of immigrants at risk of committing crimes, on the other they lower the opportunity cost of crime for those who are not expelled. We estimate the effect of expulsions on the crime rate of undocumented immigrants in Italy exploiting variation in enforcement toward immigrants of different nationality, due to the existence of bilateral agreements for the control of illegal migration. We find that stricter enforcement of migration policy reduces the crime rate of undocumented immigrants.

Citation

Pinotti, Paolo. 2015. "Immigration Enforcement and Crime." American Economic Review 105 (5): 205–09. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151040

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy
  • K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law