This article tests whether amnesty, a provision of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, affected the labor market outcomes of the legalized population. Using a quasi-experimental framework, we find that employment fell, unemployment rose, and wage growth rates were higher for newly legalized men after the implementation of the amnesty program. For women, employment fell, transitions out of the workforce increased, and wages grew at a faster rate among the newly legalized population.
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Amuedo‐Dorantes et al. (2011) studied this question.
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