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Unintended effects of the Alabama HB 56 immigration law on crime: A preliminary analysis

Author

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  • Zhang, Yinjunjie
  • Palma, Marco A.
  • Xu, Zhicheng Phil

Abstract

The Alabama HB 56 act passed in 2011 is the strictest anti-illegal immigration bill in the United States. Using the synthetic control method to create a counterfactual Alabama, this paper provides suggestive evidence that Alabama HB 56 led to an increase in violent crime rates, but had no significant impact on property crime rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Yinjunjie & Palma, Marco A. & Xu, Zhicheng Phil, 2016. "Unintended effects of the Alabama HB 56 immigration law on crime: A preliminary analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 68-71.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:147:y:2016:i:c:p:68-71
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2016.08.026
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    3. Sarah Bohn & Magnus Lofstrom & Steven Raphael, 2014. "Did the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act Reduce the State's Unauthorized Immigrant Population?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 258-269, May.
    4. Alberto Abadie & Alexis Diamond & Jens Hainmueller, 2015. "Comparative Politics and the Synthetic Control Method," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(2), pages 495-510, February.
    5. Alberto Abadie & Javier Gardeazabal, 2003. "The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 113-132, March.
    6. Giovanni Mastrobuoni & Paolo Pinotti, 2015. "Legal Status and the Criminal Activity of Immigrants," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 175-206, April.
    7. Fajnzylber, Pablo & Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman, 2002. "What causes violent crime?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1323-1357, July.
    8. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
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    Cited by:

    1. Borbely, Daniel, 2019. "A case study on Germany’s aviation tax using the synthetic control approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 377-395.
    2. Brandyn F. Churchill & Andrew Dickinson & Taylor Mackay & Joseph J. Sabia, 2022. "The Effect of E-Verify Laws on Crime," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(5), pages 1294-1320, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anti-illegal immigrant law; Alabama; Crime; Synthetic control;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law

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