Date of Completion

8-5-2019

Embargo Period

8-19-2025

Keywords

Education, Exchange Rate, Immigrants, Remittances

Major Advisor

Kanda Naknoi

Associate Advisor

Eric Brunner

Associate Advisor

Hyun Lee

Field of Study

Economics

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

My dissertation contributes to the existing literature on educational attainment of immigrants residing in the United States. Previous policy reports and survey data has shown that immigrant children drop out of high school to take up employment o support their family. The first chapter of my dissertation examines the impact of a real appreciation of the US dollar on the high school enrollment decision of the immigrant children who are 16-19 years of age. A real appreciation of the US dollar has an impact on the income and economic decisions of immigrants. My results show that exchange rate movements in favor of the US dollar lead to increase in the high school enrollment and a simultaneous decline in the labor supply provided by the immigrant children.

The second chapter of my dissertation investigates the impact of exchange rates on college enrollment among immigrants. I do not find real appreciation of the US dollar to have a significant impact on college enrollment decisions of the immigrants.

In the third chapter, I develop a two-period model in a partial equilibrium framework to determine the threshold level of asset or wealth holding which enables an immigrant household to send their children to high school, in the presence of a real appreciation of the US dollar. I find that at a lower asset level, immigrant household receive more utility from sending their children to high school rather than work. I find the predictions made by the model match with the data with minor deviations.

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Available for download on Tuesday, August 19, 2025

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