In this paper we show that highly skilled undocumented migrants are more likely to return home than migrants with low or no skills when illegality causes skill wasteʺ, i.e. when illegality reduces the rate of return of individual capabilities (i.e. skills and human capital) in both the labor...

We consider the issue of illegal migration from Mexico to the US, and examine whether the lack of legal status causally impacts on outcomes, specifically wages and remitting behavior. These outcomes are of particular interest given the extent of legal and illegal migration, and the resulting...

Taking advantage of the ability to identify immigrants who were unauthorized to work prior to obtaining Legal Permanent Resident status, we use the New Immigrant Survey to examine whether lacking legal status to work in the U.S. constrains employment outcomes of illegal immigrants. With the...