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The role of Mexican immigration to the United States in improved workplace safety for natives from 1980 to 2015

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  • Dillender, Marcus
  • McInerney, Melissa

Abstract

Between 1980 and 2015, Mexican immigration to the United States and the share of Mexican immigrants in the labor force quintupled. We provide the first evidence examining whether this impacted one element of the work environment for native workers: workplace safety. To account for endogeneity and ensure that the change in Mexican immigration arose from supply shifts, we use 2SLS and instrumental variables. We show Mexican immigration over this period led natives to work in safer jobs; resulted in fewer workplace injuries for natives; and reduced WC benefit claims overall, which had a meaningful impact on employer costs for WC.

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  • Dillender, Marcus & McInerney, Melissa, 2020. "The role of Mexican immigration to the United States in improved workplace safety for natives from 1980 to 2015," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:70:y:2020:i:c:s0167629619303005
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102280
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    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Bellés-Obrero & Nicolau Martin Bassols & Judit Vall Castello, 2021. "Safety at work and immigration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 167-221, January.
    2. Mattia Filomena & Matteo Picchio & Alessia Lo Turco, 2024. "Trade exposure, immigrants and workplace injuries," Working Papers 488, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    3. Laurent Bossavie & Daniel Garrote‐Sanchez & Mattia Makovec & Çağlar Özden, 2022. "Do immigrants shield the locals? Exposure to COVID‐related risks in the European Union," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1478-1514, November.
    4. Escarce, José J. & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2021. "Effect of immigration on depression among older natives in Western Europe," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    5. Aygün, Aysun & Güray Kırdar, Murat & Tuncay, Berna, 2021. "The effect of hosting 3.4 million refugees on native population mortality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Bossavie,Laurent Loic Yves & Garrote Sanchez,Daniel & Makovec,Mattia & Ozden,Caglar, 2020. "Do Immigrants Push Natives towards Safer Jobs ? Exposure to COVID-19 in the European Union," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9500, The World Bank.
    7. Katharina Drescher & Benedikt Janzen, 2023. "When Weather Wounds Workers: The Impact of Temperature on Workplace Accidents," Working Papers 226, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    8. Chad Sparber & Madeline Zavodny, 2022. "Immigration, Working Conditions, and Compensating Differentials," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(4), pages 1054-1081, August.

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