The impact of LAWA on the family labour supply among farm households

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) on the farm occupation decisions of family labour in agricultural households. This question is studied at the individual level using the difference-in-differences model with the American Community Survey data from 2000 to 2010. We find that LAWA has significantly increased the probability of farm family labourers choosing agricultural occupations by 3-5.5 per cent and the impact is 11 per cent for non-Hispanic farms. This study suggests that stringent immigration laws could change the patterns of family labour use among US farm households.