Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Econ 496
Midterm #2
42
Economics
Undergraduate 4
11/21/2012

Additional Economics Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
What is the main point of "America's Incoherent Immigration System?
Definition

Illegal immigration is a problem because of limited venues to enter the country legally for both:

 

1. Low Skilled immigrants

 

2. High Skilled immigrants

 

3. Sponsoring of family members

Term
What are the categories of visas for low-skilled workers?
Definition

H-2A (seasonal visas for agricultural workers) - farmers complain of the regulatory maze

 

H-2B (seasonal visas for non-agricultural workers) - The Bracero Program proved facilitating immigration in this category can reduce illegal immigration.

Term
What are the categories of visas for high-skilled immigrants?
Definition

H1-B visas (Need a BA or higher, good for 6 years, renewable after 3)

 

Problems:

High fees

Bureaucracy - "labor certification" is needed

capped at 65,000 most years

Few employer-based green cards (140,000 + country quotas)

 

EB-5 (immigrant investor visa, 500k minimum and creation of 10 jobs minimum) -

 

Problems:

high capital requirements

To get a green card - prove 10+ jobs were created in 2 years

Term
What are the issues with sponsoring family members for entry into the US? What is a solution?
Definition

Sponsoring family members for permanent residence can take up to 20 years depending on your nationality.

 

Solution: Increase the number of available visas

Term
What are the main points of the article "Economic Consequences of Amnesty for Unauthorized Immigrants"?
Definition

1. The population of unauthorized immigrants has kept rising after the broad amnesty of 1986, reaching an estimated 11 million

- increased enforcement and entry limited to H2A and H2B visas capped at 65,000

 

2. There are no good choices once that happens:

- Deportations violate civil liberties

- Amnesties undermines the rule of law and can have significant ecoomic and immigration consequences.

Term
What solution do the authors propose to address unauthorized immigration?
Definition
Increase the number of workers that can come in under easy to manage temporary work programs
Term
What are 5 facts about unauthorized immigration in the US?
Definition

It rose after the end of the Bracero Program

 

It has kept rising during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, when as many as 500,000 were entering per year

 

Mexico is still the main source, but it is declining in importance

 

Geography clustered in urban areas and, although increasingly more dispersed, primarily concentrated in CA and TX

 

It has contributed significantly to birth rates in the US

 

It comprises 5% of the workforce

 

Relatively low-skilled, mostly working in farming, building, grounds keeping, maintenance and constuction

Term
What are the policies developed to deal with illegal immigration?
Definition

Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986)

- 245(i) program

 

Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1996)

 

Smaller Amnesty: NACARA (1997)

- Targeted Nicaraguans and Central Americans

Term
What did IRCA and the 245(i) program do?
Definition

- Legalized 2.7 million undocumented immigrants

 

- Increased enforcement

 

- Created the H2A and H2B visas

 

Immigrants legalized under IRCA started to become naturalized by 1994 and started sponsoring other family members

- 245(i) program was designed to facilitate that process

Term
What did the 1996 IIRIRA do?
Definition

Toughened up sponsoring and is the precursor of:

 

- E-Verify

 

- Secure Communities program and 297 (g) agreements between local police and ICE

Term
What are the labor market impacts of IRCA?
Definition

Unauthorized workers

- benefit from greater bargaining power and wages.

 

Naturalized immigrants and Hispanics

-not so clear, i.e. discrimination?

 

Natives?

- Not so clear either

Term
What are the fiscal effects of IRCA?
Definition

Possibly higher income and payroll tax revenues

 

Possibly higher costs with participation in means-tested programs

 

Emergency room care

 

Educational expenditures

 

Social security and Medicare as they age

Term
What are the effects on unauthorized immigrants' children after IRCA?
Definition
Better life prospects
Term
What are the macroeconomic effects of IRCA?
Definition

Reduced labor mobility

 

More expensive labor

 

More expensive goods and services

Term
What are some proposed policies/solutions to address unauthorized immigration?
Definition

Need to lower the demand for unauthorized workers and increase employer's ability to access workers legally:

 

1. Amnesty or Normalization: Temporary work status

 

2. TWP (Temporary Work Programs): Greater access to temporary work programs

 

3. E-Verify

Term
How did the 1986 amnesty impact the employment and wages of unauthorized male and female immigrants?
Definition
Term
What is the neoclassical model of labor-leisure choice?
Definition
Legalization can affect labor supply decisions of immigrants differently depending on their skill level.
Term
What are the three potential effects of IRCA on the labor market outcomes of undocumented immigrants?
Definition

1. Staying employed, but earning higher wages

 

2. Exiting employment due to higher reservation wages and increased access to social services

 

3. Entering employment due to higher returns to skill

Term
What was the purpose of IRCA?
Definition
To stem the flow of increased illegal immigration into the United States.
Term
What were the 3 strategies employed by IRCA to accomplish its goals?
Definition

1. Increased INS resources for border enforcement

 

2. Introduced employer sanctions for knowingly hiring undocumented workers

 

3. Offered 2 amnesty programs to legalize resident aliens

Term
How many people did IRCA legalize?
Definition

Total: 2.7 million undocumented immigrants acquired legal permanent resident (LPR) status.

 

a) General Program - amnesty to 1.6 million illegal aliens

 

b) SpecialAgricultural Worker (SAW) program - LPR status to 1.1 million undocumented workers.

Term
What were the expectated impacts that IRCA would have on undocumented workers?
Definition

"Out of the shadows"

 

Improve working conditions

 

Reducing workplace vulnerabilities

 

Increase job mobility

 

Increase wages

Term
Describe in general terms the quasi-experimental design or methodology used in the "Gender Differences in the Labor Market Impact of IRCA's Amnesty Provisions" article. 
Definition
1. An estimate of the relative labor market effect of IRCA's main amnesty program is given by 
Term
Describe the data sets used for the analysis in the "Gender Differences in the Labor Market Impact of IRCA's Amnesty Provisions" article. Who were used as a control group? Who were the treated group?
Definition

Treatment Group: Newly legalized under IRCA's main amenesty program.

 

Comparison Group:

- Ideally, randomly selected group of undocumented immigrants ineligible for amnesty.

 

- That isn't possible (everyone was legalized), so instead they use a sample of Hispanic natives with similar ethnicity, gender composition, age, and labor market experience.

 

- Allows them to control for concurrent business cycles.

Term
What were the data sets used in the analysis in the "Gender Differences in the Labor Market Impact of IRCA's Amnesty Provisions" article?
Definition

Survey #1: The Legalized Population Survey (LPS)

- A nationally representative dataset designed to analyze the impact of IRCA's main amnesty program on the legalized population

 

Survey #2: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79)

- A nationally representative sample of 12,686 civilian young men and women aged 14-21 as of December 31, 1978. This cohort was interviewed annually from 1979 through 1994.

Term
What were the general findings of the study in the "Gender Differences in the Labor Market Impact of IRCA's Amnesty Provisions" article?
Definition

1. Employment rates fell and unemployment rates rose for the newly legalized male population relative to their comparison group.

 

2. Among immigrant women, employment rates fell but transitions out of the workforce increased relative to Hispanic natives.

 

3. Furthermore, legalization likely enhanced the wage growth of newly legalized men and women.

Term
What were the overall effects of the amnesty according to the study in the "Gender Differences in the Labor Market Impact of IRCA's Amnesty Provisions" article?
Definition

Amnesty may have:

 

1. Increased the quality of job matches

 

2. Increased job mobility, particularly of men

 

3. Increased eligibility for social services and reduced labor market participation, particularly for women

Term
What is E-Verify?
Definition

E-Verify is an internet-based, free program run by the US government that compares information from an employee's I-9 form to data from US records

 

- If the information matches, that employee is considered eligible to work in the US

 

- If there is a mismatch, E-Verify alerts the employer and the employee is allowed to work while he or she resolves the problem, but must contact the appropriate agency to resolve the mismatch.

Term
What is the objective/intended consequence of E-Verify?
Definition
Reduce employment of unauthorized workers
Term
What is the scope of E-Verify? How many states have enacted laws mandating the use of E-Verify?
Definition
18 states have enacted laws mandating the use of E-Verify by firms with ties to state public programs or by all firms as of 2011.
Term
What are some of the states that have adopted each type of program?
Definition

AZ (enacted Jul-07, implemented Jan-08)

Scope: all

 

CO (enacted Jun-06, implemented Aug-08)

Scope: public

 

UT (enacted mar-08, implemented Jul-09)

Scope: public first, all after March 2010

Term
What are two of the potential unintended consequences of E-Verify noted in the article?
Definition

1. Fraud: The system is vulnerable to identity fraud, employer misuse and, as such, does not prevent unauthorized employment.

 

2. Mobility across sectors/states: Most states that have implemented E-veriy mandates have only enforced them on public agencies and contracts. Additionally, some states contemplate exemptions, such as fairly short-term contracts or employment in small firms.

 

As a result, workers may still seek employment in:

 

- The private sector

 

- Switch to employment exempted from using E-verify

 

- Migrate to a nearby state without an E-verify mandate, or

 

- Get 'off-the-books' jobs

Term
What are the two research questions investigated in "The Labor Market Impact of Mandated Employment Verification Systems"?
Definition

1. Have E-verify mandates impacted the employment and wages of likely unauthorized men and women?

 

2. Has the employment distribution of these workers across industries significantly changed with the enactment and implementation of E-verify mandates?

 

We answer these two questions while allowing for the impacts to differ according to:

- The scope (state-wide vs. public sector) and

- The timing (enactment vs. implementation date) of the mandate

Term
What are the hypothesis and potential outcomes tested in in "The Labor Market Impact of Mandated Employment Verification Systems"?
Definition

Hypothesis: The current E-verify system may not only reduce unauthorized employment, but also raise employment costs, increase or decrease wages, and/or increase informal/off-the-books employment.

 

Potential Outcomes:

 

Outcome 1: Both employment and wages drop in states w/ e-verify as labor demand declines.

 

Outcome 2: Employment levels might decrease, but wages may rise, if the supply-side response dominates and workers migrate to other sectors, states or get 'off  the books' employment.

 

Outcome 3: Finally, overall employment and wages may not change due to high non-compliance and identity fraud rates.

Term
What data is used to test the research questions in in "The Labor Market Impact of Mandated Employment Verification Systems"?
Definition

National Conference of State Legislatures: State-level data on year of enactment and implementation and type of state-mandate.

 

Current Population Survey: Monthly data from January 2004 to December 2010 on employment outcomes and outgoing-rotation group monthly data (subset) for wage data.

- Labor Force Status

- Hourly wages

- Industry

- Education

- Race/ethnicity

- Other demographics

 

Baseline Sample: Hispanic non-citizen, between 16 and 45 years of age with a HS education or less (group most likely to be unauthorized) 

Term

How has E-Verify impacted the employment and wages of unauthorized men and women?

Definition

EMPLOYMENT:

Only state-wide mandates appear to impact the wages of likely unauthorized workers – raising them by 9% immediately after enactment but then lowering them after implementation by 5.8% for a total of a 3.5% increase. 

 

Gender differences:
Among women: the enactment of E-Verify mandates pushes up wages. 
Among men: wages remain unchanged after the enactment date to later on decline following the implementation of state-wide E-Verify mandates.

WAGES:
The employment probability of likely unauthorized men and women in states with newly enacted state-wide mandates declines by 3 and 7 pp., respectively.

Differential impact by scope: Owing to the smaller scope of the public sector mandates, their enactment only reduces male employment by 2 pp.   
Differential impact by timing: Employment diminishes following the enactment date of E-Verify mandates – hinting on an immediate LS response.

Term

What are some of the explanations behind the potentially different effect of E-Verify on unauthorized men and women? 

Definition

Differential impacts by gender:

 

Women: The enactment of a state-wide mandate lowers the employment and raises wages -  suggesting large LS reductions.

 

Men: Employment decreases and wages remain unchanged after the enactment date to decline later on following the implementation of state-wide E-verify mandates - hence, aside form any LS reductions, LD must drop significantly.

Term
What might be responsible for the gender differences in the impacts of e-verify on men vs. women?
Definition

Perhaps, women, if in charge of dependent children, are more risk-averse than men.

 

Alternatively, women might work in industries that differ in the degree to which employers are exempt from e-verify mandates

Term

How has E-Verify impacted the employment distribution of likely unauthorized workers across industries according to the scope of the mandate?

Definition
Increased shares of likely unauthorized workers in sectors with possible exemptions(contract duration, firm size):
Agriculture employment:  where the share of likely unauthorized workers increases by 6 pp. 
Food service employment: where the share of likely unauthorized female workers increases by 8 pp. 
In contrast, they decrease in:
Construction: where the share of likely unauthorized male workers drops by 10 pp. with the enactment and implementation of state-wide E-Verify mandates.

Private HH: where the share of likely unauthorized female workers drops by 4 pp., possibly due to large LS reductions following the enactment of state-wide mandates

Term

What are the 2 overall conclusions about the impact of e-verify mandates in "The Labor Market Impact of Mandated Employment Verification Systems?

Definition

1. We find that E-verify mandates, particularly state-wide mandates, significantly curtail the employment probability of likely unauthorized male and female workers.

 

2. However, the mandates have mixed effects on wages and appear to redistribute likely unauthorized labor towards industries often benefitting from specific exclusions, such as agriculture or food services.

 

Potentially large economic costs associated with the reshuffling of workers across industries raise concerns about the design and implementation of e-verify mandates on a state-by-state basis.

Supporting users have an ad free experience!