THE EFFECT OF MAQUILADORA EMPLOYMENT ON THE MONTHLY FLOW OF MEXICAN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED-STATES, 1978-1982

This study uses monthly data of maquiladora employment and INS apprehensions in a "push-pull' migration framework to study the association between these two variables during the April 1978 to January 1982 period. The findings suggest that there is a significantly negative relationship between the one month lag of maquiladora employment and INS apprehensions. Employment growth in the maquiladora sector tends to be followed by a reduction of apprehensions one month later. The study also finds that male and female apprehensions appear to respond to relatively similar economic factors. -from Authors