Full Citation

Title: English-Only Laws and English Language Proficiency: An ineffective public policy

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2010

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Abstract: Politicians concerned about the decline of the English language have pushed for laws declaring English the official language at both the state and federal level. While no federal legislation has passed, over the past thirty years, 25 states have declared English as their official language. This paper aims to provide one of the first empirical tests of the laws effect on immigrants proficiency in English and wages. Using census bureau data I find no significant impact of the laws on English proficiency in probit and ordered probit regressions, a small effect using a linear probability model and no significant effect on wages from an instrumental variables regression. I also provide evidence of the exogeneity of the laws

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Authors: Weiss, Dan

Institution: Washington University

Department: Economics

Advisor: Juan Pantano

Degree: Honors

Publisher Location: St. Louis, MO

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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