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Improved legal status as the major source of earnings premiums associated with intermarriage: evidence from the 1986 IRCA amnesty

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  • Miao Chi

    (Drew University)

Abstract

Exploiting a natural experiment, this paper uses the 1990 US Census data and the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act amnesty to investigate the major mechanism through which intermarriage influences immigrant earnings. My strategy involves comparing international marriage premiums received by two groups of Mexican immigrants who arrived before and after the cutoff date of eligibility. Both groups face similar language and culture related obstacles and have to adapt themselves to the new environment, except that unauthorized Mexican workers who arrived before 1982 could obtain legal status through the amnesty while those who arrived after the cutoff date obtained legal status through marriage to a US citizen. Instrumental variables estimates show a significantly larger intermarriage premium for Mexican immigrants who migrated after the cutoff date and no statistically significant intermarriage premium is found in the pre-1982 group. The 35 % premium gap indicates a large effect of intermarriage on immigrant labor market outcomes, operating primarily through an improvement of legal status.

Suggested Citation

  • Miao Chi, 2017. "Improved legal status as the major source of earnings premiums associated with intermarriage: evidence from the 1986 IRCA amnesty," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 691-706, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11150-015-9305-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-015-9305-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Eva Dziadula, 2020. "Marriage and Citizenship Among U.S. Immigrants: Who Marries Whom and Who Becomes a Citizen?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 34-52, January.
    4. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Wang, Chunbei, 2020. "Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; Legal status; Economic assimilation; International intermarriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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