PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kosack, Edward
TI  - Guest Worker Programs and Human Capital Investment: The Bracero Program in Mexico, 1942-1964
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.56.2.0616-8015R2
DP  - 2020 Feb 11
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0616-8015R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/02/03/jhr.56.2.0616-8015R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/02/03/jhr.56.2.0616-8015R2.full
AB  - Guest worker programs are often criticized for worker maltreatment. Income earned could, however, benefit migrants. I examine the impact of the Bracero Program, a guest worker program between Mexico and the U.S. in the mid-twentieth century, on human capital investments. I use proximity to recruitment centers as an instrument for migration. The opening and closing of centers, due to changes in international bargaining power, provides exogenous variation. Estimates show that bracero migration caused increases in primary school enrollments, the provision of primary schools, and spending on education by state governments.