Abstract This study quantifies the economic effects of two major immigration policies aimed at legalizing undocumented individuals that entered the United States as children and completed high school: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the DREAM Act. The former offers only temporary legal status to eligible individuals, whereas the latter provides a track to legal permanent residence. Our analysis is based on a general equilibrium model that allows for shifts in participation between work, college, and non-employment. The model is calibrated to account for productivity differences across workers of different skills and documentation status, and a rich pattern of complementarities across different types of workers. We estimate that DACA increased gross domestic product (GDP) by almost 0.02% (about $3.5 billion), or $7,454 per legalized worker. Passing the DREAM Act would increase GDP by around 0.08% (or $15.2 billion), which amounts to an average of $15,371 for each legalized worker. The larger effects of the DREAM Act stem from the expected larger take-up and the increased incentive to attend college among DREAMers with a high school degree. We also find substantial wage increases for individuals obtaining legal status, particularly those that increase their educational attainment. Because of the small size of the DREAMer population, and their skill distribution, legalization entails negligible effects on the wages of US-born workers.

中文翻译：

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为梦想家提供法律地位的经济影响

摘要这项研究量化了旨在使无证个人作为儿童进入美国并完成高中毕业的无证个人合法化的两项主要移民政策的经济影响：《推迟儿童行动》（DACA）和《 DR​​EAM法案》。前者仅向符合条件的个人提供临时的法律身份，而后者则提供了获得合法永久居留权的途径。我们的分析基于一般均衡模型，该模型允许工作，大学和失业之间的参与转移。该模型经过校准，以解决具有不同技能和文档状态的工人之间的生产率差异，以及不同类型工人之间的丰富互补性模式。我们估计，DACA使国内生产总值（GDP）增长了近0.02％（约合35亿美元），即7美元，每名合法工人454名。通过《梦想法案》将使国内生产总值增加约0.08％（或152亿美元），每位合法工人的平均收入为15371美元。《 DREAM法案》产生的较大影响是由于预期的人数增加以及高中学历的DREAM参加大学的动机增加。我们还发现，获得合法身份的人，特别是那些获得教育程度提高的人，工资大幅增加。由于DREAMer人口很小，而且他们的技能分布不均，合法化对美国出生的工人的工资影响可忽略不计。《 DREAM法案》产生的较大影响是由于预期的人数增加以及高中学历的DREAM参加大学的动机增加。我们还发现，获得合法身份的人，特别是那些获得教育程度提高的人，工资大幅增加。由于DREAMer人口很小，而且他们的技能分布不均，合法化对美国出生的工人的工资影响可忽略不计。《 DREAM法案》产生的较大影响是由于预期的人数增加以及高中学历的DREAM参加大学的动机增加。我们还发现，获得合法身份的人，特别是那些获得教育程度提高的人，工资大幅增加。由于DREAMer人口很小，而且他们的技能分布不均，合法化对美国出生工人的工资影响可忽略不计。