What is the contribution of Mexican immigration to U.S. crime rates? Evidence from rainfall shocks in Mexico

Abstract

This paper identifies a causal effect of Mexican immigration on crime using an instrument that leverages temporal variation in rainfall in different regions in Mexico as well as persistence in regional Mexico-U.S. migration networks. The intuition behind the instrument is that deviations in Mexican weather patterns isolate quasi-random variation in the assignment of Mexican immigrants to U.S. cities. My findings indicate that Mexican immigration is associated with no appreciable change in the rates of either violent or property crimes in U.S. cities. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Law and Economics Association. All rights reserved.