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The rhetoric of closed borders: quotas, lax enforcement and illegal migration

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  • Testa, Cecilia
  • Facchini, Giovanni

Abstract

Despite restrictive migration policies, large numbers of undocumented migrants reside in many destination countries. If official migration targets are not enforced, why are they devised? To address this puzzle, we develop a political agency model with uncertainty on the migrants' supply, where an elected official can either have preferences congruent with the median voter, or prefer a larger number of migrants. We show that, if the incumbent prefers more migrants than the median, he might find it optimal to announce a binding quota to be re-elected, and strategically relax its enforcement, or choose an ineffective instrument like border control.

Suggested Citation

  • Testa, Cecilia & Facchini, Giovanni, 2011. "The rhetoric of closed borders: quotas, lax enforcement and illegal migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 8245, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8245
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. "The Rhetoric of Closed Borders"
      by Mark Thoma in Economist's View on 2011-04-28 12:15:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Basu, Arnab K. & Chau, Nancy H. & Park, Brian, 2022. "Rethinking border enforcement, permanent and circular migration," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Emmanuelle Auriol & Alice Mesnard, 2016. "Sale of Visas: a Smuggler's Final Song?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(332), pages 646-678, October.
    3. Julide Yazar & Robert J. Gitter, 2023. "Border Games: A Game Theoretic Model of Undocumented Immigration," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Alessandra Casarico & Giovanni Facchini & Tommaso Frattini, 2012. "Spending more is spending less: on the desirability of enforcing migration," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2012006, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    5. Emmanuelle Auriol & Alice Mesnard, 2016. "Sale of Visas: a Smuggler's Final Song?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(332), pages 646-678, October.
    6. Russo, Giuseppe & Salsano, Francesco, 2019. "Electoral systems and immigration," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Giovanni Facchini & Cecilia Testa, 2015. "The Political Economy of Migration Enforcement: Domestic Versus Border Control," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(3-4), pages 701-721.
    8. Verena Löffler, 2021. "Questioning the feasibility and justice of basic income accounting for migration," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 20(3), pages 273-314, August.
    9. Casarico, Alessandra & Facchini, Giovanni & Frattini, Tommaso, 2018. "What drives the legalization of immigrants? Evidence from IRCA," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 258-273.
    10. Slobodan Djajić & Michael S. Michael, 2014. "Controlling Illegal Immigration: On the Scope for Cooperation with a Transit Country," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 808-824, September.
    11. Biavaschi, Costanza & Elsner, Benjamin, 2013. "Let's Be Selective about Migrant Self-Selection," IZA Discussion Papers 7865, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Carlo Devillanova & Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini, 2014. "Employment of Undocumented Immigrants and the Prospect of Legal Status: Evidence from an Amnesty Program," Development Working Papers 367, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 26 Jun 2014.
    13. Alessandra Casarico & Giovanni Facchini & Cecilia Testa, 2017. "Asylum Policy and Illegal Immigration: Perspectives and Challenges," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(04), pages 14-20, February.
    14. Alessandra Casarico & Giovanni Facchini & Tommaso Frattini, 2015. "Illegal Immigration: Policy Perspectives and Challenges," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(3-4), pages 673-700.
    15. Alessandra Casarico & Giovanni Facchini & Tommaso Frattini, 2012. "Spending More is Spending Less: Policy Dilemmas on Irregular Migration," Development Working Papers 330, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 27 Mar 2012.
    16. Hakan İnal, 2015. "Voting over law enforcement: mission impossible," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 349-360, August.
    17. repec:ces:ifodic:v:14:y:2017:i:4:p:19271454 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Slobodan Djajic & Michael S. Michael, 2016. "Illegal Immigration, Foreign Aid, and the Transit Countries," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 62(3), pages 572-593.
    19. Alessandra Casarico & Giovanni Facchini & Tommaso Frattini, 2012. "What Drives Immigration Amnesties?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3981, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Illegal immigration; Immigration policy; Political economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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