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Fake marriages, asylum, and gas station robberies: institutional determinants of migrants' strategies

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  • Joshua Bedi

    (Copenhagen Business School)

Abstract

I study institutional and political determinants of migrants’ immigration strategies using the United States’ immigration system as a case study. Drawing from work that theoretically connects decisions to immigrate legally vs. illegally as well as theoretical insights from literature on the economics of crime, I show how relative probabilities of successful migration using different strategies and relative utility gained using different strategies weigh heavily in immigrants’ calculus. To do so, I use qualitative evidence of migrant strategies in the face of migration policy constraints. These various policy constraints lead to a variety of different tactics revolving around decisions regarding whether to immigrate legally, to commit visa fraud, or to choose one type of visa over another. In the process, I also build on a rich body of Public Choice literature to demonstrate how complicated regulatory systems, in this case regulatory systems that quantitatively restrict migration, encourage rent-seeking by both migrants and nonmigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Bedi, 2024. "Fake marriages, asylum, and gas station robberies: institutional determinants of migrants' strategies," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 45-72, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:35:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10602-023-09400-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-023-09400-5
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; Institutions; Policy; Visas; Rent-seeking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact

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