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UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRANTS' ACCESS TO DRIVER'S LICENSES AND AUTO INSURANCE COVERAGE
Author(s) -
Churchill Brandyn F.,
Mackay Taylor,
Tan Bing Yang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/coep.12492
Subject(s) - immigration , license , business , automobile insurance , demographic economics , liability , quality (philosophy) , actuarial science , finance , economics , law , political science , philosophy , epistemology
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia allow unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Using variation in the timing and location of these policy changes, we show these Unauthorized Immigrant License Polices (UILPs) are associated with a 1% increase in both the number of licensed drivers and liability insurance coverage, although we do not document a statistically significant relationship with auto insurance claims. Nor do we detect a significant relationship between UILPs and the number of miles driven, vehicle registrations, air quality, or travel behaviors. Overall, our results are consistent with UILPs licensing unauthorized immigrants who were already driving. ( JEL R48, G22, K37)