The Grecian Horse: Does Immigration Lead to the Deterioration of American Institutions?

2018. Public Choice. Vol. 30, No. 2

48 Pages Posted: 24 May 2017 Last revised: 25 Apr 2019

See all articles by Alexandre Padilla

Alexandre Padilla

Metropolitan State University of Denver - Department of Economics

Nicolas Cachanosky

The University of Texas at El Paso; American Institute for Economic Research; UCEMA Friedman-Hayek Center for the Study of a Free Society

Date Written: May 1, 2017

Abstract

Concerns about the institutional impact of immigration, particularly, in the United States, are not new. We can trace them all the way back to Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. More recently, in response to a literature that questions the efficiency of current immigration restrictions, Borjas (2015) expresses similar concerns about the institutional impact of immigrants coming from countries with poor institutions. Using economic freedom as proxy for institutional quality of the American states since 1980, using several estimation techniques and control variables, our results show that concerns about the institutional impact of immigrants are so far not supported.

Keywords: Immigration, Institutions, Economic Freedom

JEL Classification: F22, H70, O43

Suggested Citation

Padilla, Alexandre and Cachanosky, Nicolas, The Grecian Horse: Does Immigration Lead to the Deterioration of American Institutions? (May 1, 2017). 2018. Public Choice. Vol. 30, No. 2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2972345 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2972345

Alexandre Padilla (Contact Author)

Metropolitan State University of Denver - Department of Economics ( email )

Economics department, Campus Box 77
PO Box 173362
Denver, CO 80217
United States
303- 615-0111 (Phone)
303-556-3966 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.alexandrepadilla.com

Nicolas Cachanosky

The University of Texas at El Paso

500 West University Avenue
El Paso, TX 79968
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.utep.edu/

American Institute for Economic Research

PO Box 1000
Great Barrington, MA 01230
United States

UCEMA Friedman-Hayek Center for the Study of a Free Society ( email )

Buenos Aires
Argentina

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