Driver's License Reforms and Job Accessibility among Undocumented Immigrants

I analyze how allowing undocumented immigrants to legally obtain driver's licenses shifts commuting patterns, increases job accessibility, and improves labor market outcomes. Using state- and nativity-level variation in reforms, I show that granting driving privileges to the undocumented increases vehicle ownership and the probability of car commute by 3 percentage points. This improvement in accessibility leads to a 1 percentage point increase in the employment rate. The employment effects are larger in low-accessibility localities, which are more rural and entail longer commuting times. Undocumented immigrants exhibit stronger positive employments effects in more car-dependent occupations, shifting away from less car-dependent occupations