UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRATION AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE NATIVE-BORN POPULATION OF THE UNITED-STATES - ECONOMETRIC EVIDENCE

According to theoretical models suggested by Chiswick and others, the growing presence of undocumented immigrants in the US should have a disequalizing effect on income distribution in the native-born population. However, this proposition has not been subjected to empirical test. Here an econometric model of income inequality in native-born households is constructed and Census-based estimates of the state distribution of undocumented immigrants are used to estimate model parameters. The results show that such immigration has been disequalizing, but that the impact has been small, ranking behind several other socio-economic variables.