Three Essays on the Impacts of Immigrants on Natives

Abstract

This dissertation explores the impacts of refugee and immigrant inflows on natives in the context of developing (Jordan) and developed (United States) countries. The first chapter investigates whether the sudden influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan starting in 2011 induced a reduction in healthcare utilization among native Jordanians, perhaps especially in terms of routine care. Exploiting variation in the share of refugees across time and space and using an instrumented difference-in-differences identification strategy, this chapter examines the impact of Syrian refugees on childhood immunization rates of native Jordanians. I find that the influx delayed natives’ receipt of childhood vaccines, suggesting some congestion in the healthcare sector. However, I find no effect on the likelihood of eventually receiving the vaccines, pointing to the short-term nature of the impacts of such events. The second chapter investigates another potential impact of the same influx –namely the impact on school enrollment among youth Jordanians. Using a similar identification strategy, I show that the influx reduced school enrollment, primarily among males and youths with less educated parents. Next, I show that the effect would have been larger in the absence of post-influx investments in educational infrastructure in the most impacted areas. Finally, I show an increase in employment among Jordanian youths, pointing to a potential labor market mechanism for the estimated effect. The third chapter examines the relationship between immigration enforcement and the institutionalization rates of the elderly. Exploiting the staggered implementation of the Secure Communities (SC) immigration enforcement program across U.S. counties from 2008 through 2014, we show that SC increased the likelihood that Americans aged 65 and above live in an institution. Supportive of supply shocks in the household services market as a central mechanism, we find that the elderly who are most likely to purchase domestic worker services are also the most likely to move into nursing homes following the implementation of SC. Additionally, we find suggestive evidence of significant reductions in the work hours of housekeepers, personal care aides, and home health workers hinting at the critical role of negative supply shocks in occupations that facilitate aging in community.