Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Emanuele Bracco
Author-Name-First: Emanuele
Author-Name-Last: Bracco
Author-Name: Luisanna Onnis
Author-Name-First: Luisanna
Author-Name-Last: Onnis
Title: Immigration, amnesties and the shadow economy
Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of immigration and immigration amnesties on the shadow economy. We find a robust and positive relationship between the presence of immigrants and the unobserved economic activity at the local level, but the implementation of a large immigration amnesty substantially weakens this link. Our analysis exploits newly compiled datasets of Italian immigration and shadow economy estimates for the years 1995-2006, comprising a panel of local-level aggregate statistical information, and a micro-level survey of representative households. We exploit the discontinuity created by the 2002 immigration amnesty, which increased the stock of migrants by almost 50%.
Creation-Date: 2016
File-URL: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancaster-university/content-assets/documents/lums/economics/working-papers/LancasterWP2016_003.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
Number: 108263550
Classification-JEL: H26, J61, K37
Keywords: Shadow Economy, immigration, Immigration policies, Amnesties
Handle: RePEc:lan:wpaper:108263550