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This dissertation, in the standard three-essay format, studies three distinct but closely related aspects of the United States labor markets. Chapter 1 attempts to identify the main drivers of potential migration to the United States by using administrative data from the United States Diversity Visa Lottery. Estimating fixed effects panel data models that control for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity in source-country level determinants of potential migration, I find that income levels in source countries and educational attainment of the source-country population play important role in determining migration intentions. Specifically, a one percent increase in per capita Gross Domestic Product of a source country decreases the potential migration rate from that country to the US by 1.36%. Similarly, a one percent increase in the educational attainment of source population (measured as the percentage of population with at least secondary education) decreases potential migration rate by 1.16%. The results obtained in this chapter improve our understanding of the composition of US labor markets by identifying the most important socio-economic variables that drive migration to the US. Chapter 2 estimates the causal impact of a change in supply of immigrant entrepreneurs on entrepreneurial propensities of natives. I draw data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey and use withinstate variation in supply of immigrant entrepreneurs for identification. To address concerns of endogeneity in the supply of immigrant entrepreneurs, I take advantage of a quasi-experiment provided by the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. I find that, on average, immigrants self-employed in unincorporated businesses have no discernible impact on self-employment propensities of natives. However, immigrants self-employed in incorporated businesses crowd in natives into incorporated self-employment. Specifically, a 1% increase in incorporated immigrant entrepreneurs increases the supply of incorporated native entrepreneurs by 0.11%. Furthermore, various sub-sample analyses demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs on entrepreneurial propensities of natives. The results obtained in this chapter have important implications for policies related to immigration and entrepreneurship development. Finally, Chapter 3 exploits the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to investigate the impact of publicly funded health insurance coverage for children on labor supply of adults. Using data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey and triple difference identification strategy, the analysis demonstrates that public health insurance for children decreases labor supply of women, both at the extensive and the intensive margin, but increases that of men at the extensive margin. The estimates obtained in this chapter highlight the labor supply distortions associated with welfare benefits. / Economics

The dissertation is composed of four manuscripts, positioned within the field of economic geography. Manuscript one broadly examined how precarious forms of employment (PFEs) are spatially patterned within multiple scales and across a range of geographies. The results suggested that different PFEs exhibited distinct spatial patterns across space and scale. For example, temporary and involuntary part-time work was more prevalent in Atlantic Canada and became gradually less prevalent moving westward. In contrast, part-time employment and employment in multiple jobs were more common in western Canada than in central and Atlantic Canada. The results also confirmed that all PFEs (except for involuntary-part-time work) were more common in rural and small-town areas, and less common in large urban areas. Second, using logistic regression models, results showed that the prevalence of PFEs was reinforced by factors such as immigration status, gender, age, education, and income. These models further confirmed that spatial patterns of PFEs were robust in finer scales i.e. CMAs (census metropolitan areas) and urban/rural geographies even when controlling for socio-demographic and socio-economic effects. Manuscripts two and three builds on the findings in manuscript one by examining how PFEs are spatially patterned across social locations of gender and immigration status, respectively. Results showed that the east-west and urban-rural patterns observed in manuscript one were partially distorted when the analyses were disaggregated by gender and immigration status. The robustness of these spatial distortions was confirmed using logistic regression models. The fourth manuscript sought to understand the spatial characteristics influencing the spatial variations of temporary employment using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. Key findings revealed that CMA/CAs (census metropolitan areas/census agglomerations) characterized by large shares of manufacturing, utility, and management occupations were significantly negatively associated with temporary employment. Conversely, CMA/CAs with high shares of sales and service occupations were positively associated with temporary employment. Generally, population characteristics (measured by metropolitan areas characterized by a high share of Asian immigrants, low-income earners, and employment insurance beneficiaries) contributed more to explaining positive temporary employment estimates than industry characteristics. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)