Do Regularization Programs for Illegal Immigrants Have a Magnet Effect? Evidence from Spain

This paper attempts to determine whether regularization programs of illegal immigrants have a magnet effect. Using a comparative case study approach, we analyze the most recent amnesty implemented in S pain. More specifically, we apply a synthetic control method that is suitable for the evaluation of policies at the country level. Our results suggest that the increasing trend followed by the foreign population in the period analyzed is not a consequence of the amnesty under scrutiny. Rather, it corresponds to the path for a counterfactual country with similar socioeconomic characteristics.