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Unauthorized Immigration

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The Economics of Immigration

Abstract

One of the results of the clash between immigration policies and economic incentives is unauthorized immigration. There is no accurate data on unauthorized immigration, but estimates permit some empirical work. The motives for immigrants to enter the destination country without formal authorization are the same as those that lead immigrants to seek legal entry, and the static labor market model of immigration can be used to explain the flows of unauthorized immigrants. There are additional factors to consider, however. Unauthorized immigrants do not normally enjoy the same civil rights as legal immigrants, so the potential rewards from immigrating are unlikely to be the same for legal and unauthorized immigrants. There are other interesting questions, such as why so many destination countries implicitly accept substantial numbers of unauthorized immigrants, even though their formal laws and regulations call for their strict punishment and expulsion. Unfortunately, we have few answers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cooper (2006, p. 132).

  2. 2.

    The Economist (1998).

  3. 3.

    Data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office of Policy and Planning, INS website, www.ins.gov, January 21, 2001.

  4. 4.

    Parks and Tricks (2000), Ehrlich (2001) and Magnisson (2001).

  5. 5.

    The Economist (2000).

  6. 6.

    The Pew method is detailed in most Pew Hispanic Center reports; this and other methodologies are also discussed in Bialk (2006).

  7. 7.

    See Passel (2006).

  8. 8.

    See, for example, the review of the sociology literature by Espenshade (1995).

  9. 9.

    Champion and Kaminski (2000).

  10. 10.

    Potter (2006), Jordan (2007).

  11. 11.

    Kazmin (2003).

  12. 12.

    Pritchard (2005).

  13. 13.

    Business Week (1000), “Workers in Bondage,” November 27.

  14. 14.

    Quoted in Orenstein (1995).

  15. 15.

    Quoted in Orenstein (1995).

  16. 16.

    See, for example, the discussion in Hanson (2006, pp. 909–910).

  17. 17.

    Champion and Kaminski (2000).

  18. 18.

    Nakamoto (2001).

  19. 19.

    The Economist (2007).

  20. 20.

    The Economist (2001).

  21. 21.

    Alden (2005).

  22. 22.

    Edds (2004).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, St. Cloud State University, 720 Fourth Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, USA

    Örn B. Bodvarsson

  2. Department of Economics, University of Nebraska, 880489, Lincoln, NE, 68588-0489, USA

    Hendrik Van den Berg

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  1. Örn B. Bodvarsson
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  2. Hendrik Van den Berg
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Correspondence to Örn B. Bodvarsson .

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Bodvarsson, Ö.B., Van den Berg, H. (2009). Unauthorized Immigration. In: The Economics of Immigration. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77796-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77796-0_11

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