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The wage impact of undocumented workers

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Abstract

Using administrative, individual-level, longitudinal data from the state of Georgia, this paper finds that a documented worker employed by a firm that hires undocumented workers can expect to earn 0.15 percent less than if employed by a firm that does not hire undocumented workers. However, in sectors where there are opportunities for task specialization and benefits from communication skills, documented workers can expect to earn a wage premium of less than 1 percent from being employed at a firm that also hires undocumented workers.

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  • Julie L. Hotchkiss & Myriam Quispe-Agnoli & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2012. "The wage impact of undocumented workers," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2012-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2012-04
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    Cited by:

    1. Federico S. Mandelman & Andrei Zlate, 2022. "Offshoring, Automation, Low-Skilled Immigration, and Labor Market Polarization," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 355-389, January.
    2. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & Mary Beth Walker, 2017. "Impact of first birth career interruption on earnings: evidence from administrative data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(35), pages 3509-3522, July.
    3. Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Ezgi Kaya, 2020. "Not just a work permit: EU citizenship and the consumption behaviour of documented and undocumented immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1552-1598, November.
    4. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Myriam Quispe-Agnoli, 2009. "Employer monopsony power in the labor market for undocumented workers," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2009-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

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