Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Economics
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
This dissertation comprises three essays in labor economics, focusing on the long-run effects of historical immigration and the economic impacts of contemporary immigration policies. In Chapter 2, I study how historical immigration-induced shifts in human capital affect the industrial skill structure of US counties. Using a shift-share instrumental variable strategy, I isolate exogenous changes in the skill composition of the working-age population between 1970 and 2010, relying on immigrant settlement patterns from 1850 to 2010. I find that, relative to the share of workers in low-skill industries, an exogenous increase in medium- and high-skill worker shares raises employment and establishment shares in high-skill industries and reduces them in low-skill industries, particularly in nontradable sectors. These findings, supported by a CES model with white- and blue-collar firms, emphasize the importance of historical development in shaping regional policy-making.
In Chapter 3, my co-author and I investigate the causal impact of religiosity on labor market outcomes across US commuting zones. We construct novel instruments for religious affiliations in 1940-2010 using quasi-random historical immigration interacted with origin-specific religiosity shares from 1850 to 2010. Relative to the unaffiliated, higher shares of Protestants and Liminal Christians reduce employment, income, and education, especially for women, whereas a rise in Jewish share has the opposite effects. These patterns extend to marriage and fertility outcomes and are consistent across ethnic groups, highlighting the role of religious and gender norms in shaping economic behavior.
In Chapter 4, I assess the effects of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on US firm dynamics over the 2008–2019 period. Exploiting sectoral and geographic variation in pre-policy exposure to DACA-eligible individuals within a triple-difference framework, I find that DACA increases establishment entry by 2.4 percent and temporarily reduces exit rate. It also raises native employment by 2.1 percentage points while reducing employment amongst DACA-ineligible workers, with impacts concentrated in low- and medium-skill sectors. These findings suggest that legalization policies can promote firm creation, facilitate labor reallocation without displacing natives, and improve local economic dynamism through entrepreneurship.
Date
6-26-2025
Recommended Citation
Zeynalli, Murad, "Essays in Labor and Immigration Economics" (2025). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6826.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6826
Committee Chair
Keniston, Daniel
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.6826