A randomized controlled design reveals barriers to citizenship for low-income immigrants.

ABSTRACT: Citizenship endows legal protections and is associated with economic and social gains for immigrants and their communities. In the United States, however, naturalization rates are relatively low. Yet we lack reliable knowledge as to what constrains immigrants from applying. Drawing on data from a public/private naturalization program in New York, this research provides a randomized controlled study of policy interventions that address these constraints. The study tested two programmatic interventions among low-income immigrants who are eligible for citizenship. The first randomly assigned a voucher that covers the naturalization application fee among immigrants who otherwise would have to pay the full cost of the fee. The second randomly assigned a set of behavioral nudges, similar to outr

SUBMITTER: Hainmueller J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5798346 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature