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Effects of the Alabama HB 56 Immigration Law on Crime: A Synthetic Control Approach

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  • Zhang, Yinjuejie
  • Palma, Marco
  • Xu, Zhicheng

Abstract

The act of Alabama HB 56, passed in 2011 is considered to be the strictest anti-illegal immigration bill in the United States. This paper evaluates the impact of this policy on crime, by using the synthetic control method to create a counterfactual Alabama. The results provide suggestive evidence of heterogeneous causal effects of Alabama HB 56 on crime. Compared to the synthetic group, the violent crime rate increased as a response to Alabama HB 56, while there was no significant change in property crime rate after the act. A placebo test was also performed to demonstrate the robustness of the results.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Yinjuejie & Palma, Marco & Xu, Zhicheng, 2016. "Effects of the Alabama HB 56 Immigration Law on Crime: A Synthetic Control Approach," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 229780, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:saea16:229780
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.229780
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    References listed on IDEAS

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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.

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