Research

Working Papers

Labor Market Effects of the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis in Brazil (with Hugo Sant’Anna) [Arxiv Working Paper] (Submitted)

We use administrative panel data on the universe of Brazilian formal workers to investigate the labor market effects of the Venezuelan crisis in Brazil, focusing on the state of Roraima, where the crisis had a direct impact. The results, using difference-in-differences, show that the average monthly wage of Brazilians in Roraima increased by 3 percent compared to control states. This was primarily driven by a wage increase among those working in economic sectors and occupations with little to no involvement of refugees. Those involved in sectors and occupations with a higher share of refugees did not experience an adverse wage effect either. The study found negligible forced job displacement of Brazilian workers and evidence of them moving to occupations with fewer immigrant shares. We also find suggestive evidence that the presence of immigrants in the informal labor market offset the negative substitution effects in the formal market.

Immigration Enforcement, Entrepreneurship, and Firm Entry/Exit (with Hugo Sant’Anna)

Immigrants make up a significant portion of the U.S. workforce, with undocumented immigrants constituting a sizeable percentage of workers in industries like agriculture and construction. There is also evidence that immigrants open businesses at higher rates than native-born individuals. This paper analyzes whether reducing the immigrant labor supply affects business dynamics and entrepreneurship by leveraging the temporal and spatial variation in the implementation of eight local immigration enforcement policies. We find that the higher intensity of immigration enforcement at the commuting zone (CZ) level reduced employment, the number of establishments, and job creation in the construction sector. We also find a significant drop in employment and job creation in agriculture. These effects are primarily driven by a decrease in entrepreneurial undocumented immigrants in the treatment CZs and an increase in labor costs.

Work in Progress

Revisiting the Impacts of Immigration Control on U.S. Agriculture

Manufacturing Sector Decline, Intersectoral Hysteresis, and Farm Labor Markets