Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:26:26.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effects of North American Free Trade Agreement and United States Farm Policies on Illegal Immigration and Agricultural Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Jeff Luckstead ,
Stephen Devadoss  and
Abelardo Rodriguez
Jeff Luckstead
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
Stephen Devadoss
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
Abelardo Rodriguez
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We analyze the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and United States farm subsidies on U.S.-Mexican illegal immigration and agricultural trade. The theoretical analysis develops an integrated trade-migration model and shows that NAFTA and U.S. subsidies exacerbate the illegal labor flow and increase U.S. exports. The theoretical analysis is empirically implemented by simultaneous estimation and simulation analysis. The analysis shows that NAFTA increased the number of undocumented workers to U.S. agriculture and U.S. farm exports to Mexico by an average of 1573 and $6.82 billion, respectively. U.S. farm subsidy reduction decreases unauthorized entry marginally and U.S. farm exports by an average of $3.2 billion.

Keywords

farm policiesillegal migrationNAFTAtradeF13F16F22
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banco de Mexico. Statistics. Internet site: http://www.banxico.org.mx/sitioingles/PortalesEspecializados/inflacion/inflacion.html (Accessed October 2, 2008).Google Scholar
Bandyopadhyay, S., and Bandyopadhyay, S.C.. “Illegal Immigration: A Supply Side Analysis.” Journal of Development Economics 57(1998): 343–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bond, E.W., and Chen, T.-J.. “The Welfare Effects of Illegal Immigration.” Journal of International Economics 23(1987):315–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calvin, L., and Martin, P.. “The U.S. Produce Industry and Labor: Facing the Future in a Global Economy.” Economic Research Report 106. Washington, DC: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2010a. Internet site: www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR106/ERR106.pdf (Accessed June 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Calvin, L., and Martin, P.. “Reduction in the Supply of Workers that Could Make Agricultural Labor More Expensive for the U.S. Fruit and Vegetable.” AmberWaves. Washington D.C.: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2010b. Internet site: http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/decemberlO/Features/Laborintensive.htm (Accessed June 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Comisión Nacional De Los Salarios Mínimos. Secretaria Del Trabajo y Prevision Social. Internet site: http://www.conasami.gob.mx/ (Accessed October 13, 2008).Google Scholar
Devadoss, S., and Luckstead, J.. “Contribution of Immigrant Farm Workers to California Vegetable Production.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 40(2008):879–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devadoss, S., and Luckstead, J.. “Implications of Immigration Policies for the U.S. Farm Sector and Workforce.” Economic Inquiry 49(2011):857–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duffield, J.A., and Coltrane, R.. “Testing for Disequilibrium in the Hired Farm Labor Market.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 74(1992):412–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. FAOStat. Internet site: http://faostat.fao.org/site/613/DesktopDefault.aspx (Accessed October 20, 2008a).Google Scholar
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. TRADEStat. Internet site: http://faostat.fao.org/site/406/default.aspx (Accessed October 20, 2008b).Google Scholar
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. PopSTAT. Internet site: faostat.fao.org/site/550/DesktopDefault.aspx (Accessed October 20, 2008b).Google Scholar
Freeman, R.B. “People Flows in Globalization.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 20(2006): 145-70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Monetary Fund. World Economic and Financial Surveys. World Economic Outlook Database. Internet site: www.imf.org/extern al/pubs/ft/weo/2008/Ol/weodata/index. aspx (Accessed October 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Luckstead, J. “The Effects of Immigration, Farm, and Trade Policies and the Macroeconomic Conditions of Illegal Immigration and Agricultural Trade.” M.S. Thesis. University of Idaho, Moscow, December 2008.Google Scholar
Martin, P.Factors that Influence Migration Guest Workers: Past and Present.” Mexico-United States Binational Migration Study, Volume I. Mexico City, Federal District: Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Washington, DC: U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, 1998, pp. 877–95.Google Scholar
Martin, P. “Immigration Reform: What Does It Mean For Agriculture?” Policy Issues (September 2009): P15.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Trade and Agricultural Directory. Internet site: www.oecd.org/document/59/0,3343,en_2649_33773_39551355_1_1_1_,00.html (Accessed June 17, 2008 and August 22, 2011).Google Scholar
Puyana, A., Romero, J., and Romer, J.A.. Diez años con el TLCAN: Las experiencias del sector agropecuario mexicano. Colegio de Mexico-Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, México, DF. 2005.Google Scholar
The Economist. “Ten years of NAFTA: Free Trade on Trial,” London. December 30, 2003.Google Scholar
U.S. Congress. Message from the President of the United States Transmitting North American Free Trade Agreement, Texts of Agreement, Implementing Bill, Statement of Administrative Action and Required Supporting. Washington, DC: Statements House Document 103-59, Volume 2, 1st Session, November 4, 1993.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm Labor. Internet site: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1063 (Accessed October 1, 2008a).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Quick Stat: Agricultural Statistics Data Base. Internet site: www.nass.usda.gov/Data_and_Statistics/Quick_Stats/index.asp (Accessed September 29, 2008b).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Prices. Internet site: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MarmUscWviewDocumentIrifo.do?documentID= 1002 (Accessed October 2, 2008c).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Publications: Statistical Bulletins. Internet site: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Statistical_Bulletins/Final_Estimates_1987_1993.asp (Accessed October 2, 2008d).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Data Sets Farm Income: Data Files. Internet site: www.ers.usda.gov/data/farmincome/FinfidmuXls.htm (Accessed October 29, 2008e).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Data. Economic Research Service. Internet site: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ ExchangeRates/ (Accessed September 9, 2008f).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm and Commodity Policy: Government Payments and the Farm Sector. Internet site: www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FarmPolicy/gov-pay.htm (Accessed September 16, 2008g).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mexico: Policy. Briefing Rooms, ERS. Internet site: www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/NAFTA/MexicoPolicy.htm (Accessed October 29, 2008h).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Internet site: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/ers/AES/2010s/2010/AES-08-31-2010.pdf (Accessed June 5, 2011).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. U.S. Trade Exports - BICO Commodity Aggregations. Internet site: http://www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade/USTExBICO.asp?QI= (Accessed September 25, 2008).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce—Bureau of Economic Analysis. Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product. Internet site: http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm (Accessed September 30, 2008a).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce—Bureau of Economic Analysis. National Income and Product Accounts Table. Internet site: http://www.bea.gov/national/ nipaweb/index.asp (Accessed on October 3, 2008b).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce—Bureau of Economic Analysis. CPI Detailed Report, monthly. Internet site: http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/index. asp (Accessed October 12, 2008c).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Yearbook on Immigration Statistics. Internet site: http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/immigration.shtm (Accessed October 30, 2007a).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2006. Population Estimates. Internet site: www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_2007.pdf (Accessed October 30, 2007b).Google Scholar
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/worksite.htm (Accessed November 10, 2008a).Google Scholar
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. NEWS. Internet site: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=a2dd6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=a2dd6d26d 17df 110 Vgn VCM 1000004718190aRCRD (Accessed November 11, 2008b).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment and Training Administration. The National Agricultural Workers Survey. Internet site: http://www.doleta.gov/agworker/naws.cfm (Accessed September 20, 2008a).Google Scholar
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey (National). Bureau of Labor Statistics. Internet site: http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet (Accessed September 27, 2008b).Google Scholar
Wise, T. “Agricultural Dumping Under NAFTA: Estimating the Cost of U.S. Agricultural Policies to Mexican Producers.” Subsidizing Inequality: Mexican Corn Policy since NAFTA. Fox, J. and Haight, L., eds. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2010.Google Scholar
Zahniser, S., Hertz, T., Dixon, P., and Rimmer, M.. “Immigration Policy and its Possible Effects on U.S. Agriculture and the Market for Hired Farm Labor: A Simulation Analysis.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(2011 (forthcoming).Google Scholar