Book contents
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Overview
- Part II Labor and Economic Growth
- 3 Human Capital and Long-Run Economic Growth
- 4 Immigration and Economic Growth
- Part III Implications of Technology for Growth
- Part IV The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Growth
- Part V Special Topics on Economic Growth
- Part VI A Concluding Perspective
- Index
- References
4 - Immigration and Economic Growth
from Part II - Labor and Economic Growth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2021
Book contents
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Overview
- Part II Labor and Economic Growth
- 3 Human Capital and Long-Run Economic Growth
- 4 Immigration and Economic Growth
- Part III Implications of Technology for Growth
- Part IV The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Growth
- Part V Special Topics on Economic Growth
- Part VI A Concluding Perspective
- Index
- References
Summary
Immigration is sometimes claimed to be a key contributor to economic growth. Few academic studies, however, examine the direct link between immigration and growth. And the evidence on the outcomes that the literature does examine (such as the impact on wages or government receipts and expenditures) is far too mixed to allow unequivocal inferences. This chapter surveys what we know about the relationship between immigration and growth. The canonical Solow model implies that a one-time supply shock will not have any impact on steady-state per capita income, while a continuous supply shock will permanently reduce per capita income. The relationship between immigration and growth obviously depends on many variables, including the skill composition of immigrants, the rate of assimilation, distributional labor market consequences, the size of the immigration surplus, potential human capital externalities, and the long-term fiscal impact of immigration. Despite the disagreements about how to measure all of these effects, however, there is consensus on one important point: Immigration has a more beneficial impact on growth when the immigrant flow is composed of high-skilled workers.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States , pp. 78 - 112Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
References
Abramitzky, Ran, Boustan, Leah Platt, and Eriksson, Katherine, 2014. “A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration.” Journal of Political Economy 122 (3), 467–506.Google Scholar
Altonji, Joseph G., and Card, David, 1991. “The Effects of Immigration on the Labor Market Outcomes of Less-Skilled Natives.” In Abowd, John M. and Freeman, Richard B. (eds.), Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market, 201–34. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Anastasopoulos, Jason, Borjas, George J., Cook, Gavin G., and Lachanski, Michael, 2018. “Job Vacancies and Immigration: Evidence from Pre- and Post-Mariel Data.” NBER Working Paper No. 24580. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Barro, Robert J., and Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1999. Economic Growth. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Blau, Francine D. and Mackie, Christopher (eds.), 2016. “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration.” National Academies Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 1985. “Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants.” Journal of Labor Economics 3 (4), 463–89.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 1995. “The Economic Benefits from Immigration.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9 (2), 3–22.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 2003. “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 118 (4), 1335–74.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 2014. Immigration Economics. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 2016. We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative. W.W. Norton, New York, NY.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 2017. “The Wage Impact of the Marielitos: A Reappraisal.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 70 (5), 1077–1110.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., 2019. “The Wage Impact of the Marielitos: The Role of Race.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 72 (4), 858–70.Google Scholar
Borjas, George J., and Doran, Kirk B., 2012. “The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Productivity of American Mathematicians.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 127 (3), 1143–1203.Google Scholar
Boubtane, Ekrame, Dumont, Jean-Christophe, and Rault, Christophe, 2016. “Immigration and Economic Growth in the OECD Countries 1986–2006.” Oxford Economic Papers 68 (2), 340–60.Google Scholar
Card, David, 1990. “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 43 (2), 245–57.Google Scholar
Card, David, 2001. “Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of Higher Immigration.” Journal of Labor Economics 19 (1), 22–64.Google Scholar
Card, David, 2009. “Immigration and Inequality.” American Economic Review 99 (2), 1–21.Google Scholar
Card, David, and Peri, Giovanni. 2016. “Immigration Economics by George J. Borjas: A Review Essay.” Journal of Economic Literature 54 (4), 1333–49.Google Scholar
Chiswick, Barry R., 1978. “The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-Born Men.” Journal of Political Economy 86 (5), 897–921.Google Scholar
Citi GPS, 2018. “Migration and the Economy: Economic Realities, Social Impacts & Political Choices.” www.citibank.com/commercialbank/insights/assets/docs/2018/migration-economy.pdf.Google Scholar
Clemens, Michael A., and Hunt, Jennifer, 2019. “The Labor Market Effects of Refugee Waves: Reconciling Conflicting Results.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 72 (4), 818–57.Google Scholar
Cortes, Patricia, 2008. “Effect of Low‐Skilled Immigration on U.S. Prices: Evidence from CPI Data.” Journal of Political Economy 116 (3), 381–422.Google Scholar
Dolado, Juan, Goria, Alessandra, and Ichino, Andrea, 1994. “Immigration, Human Capital and Growth in the Host Country: Evidence from Pooled Country Data.” Journal of Population Economics 7 (2), 193–215.Google Scholar
Doran, Kirk, Gelber, Alexander, and Isen, Adam, 2015. “The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from H-1B Visa Lotteries.” NBER Working Paper No. 20668. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Jaeger, David A., Ruist, Joakim, and Stuhler, Jan, 2018. “Shift-Share Instruments and the Impact of Immigration.” NBER Working Paper No. 24285. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Kane, Tim and Rutledge, Zach, 2018. “Immigration and Economic Performance Across Fifty U.S. States from 1980–2015.” Working Paper No. 18112. Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar
Kerr, William R., and Lincoln, William F., 2010. “The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention.” Journal of Labor Economics 28 (3), 473–508.Google Scholar
Llull, Joan, 2018. “The Effect of Immigration on Wages: Exploiting Exogenous Variation at the National Level.” Journal of Human Resources 53 (3), 608–22.Google Scholar
Mankiw, N. Gregory, Romer, David, and Weil, David N., 1992. “A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 107 (2), 407–37.Google Scholar
Monras, Joan, forthcoming. “Immigration and Wage Dynamics: Evidence from the Mexican Peso Crisis.” Journal of Political Economy.Google Scholar
Ottaviano, Gianmarco I. P., and Peri, Giovanni, 2012. “Rethinking the Effect of Immigration on Wages.” Journal of the European Economic Association 10 (1), 152–97.Google Scholar
Peri, Giovanni, 2012. “The Effect of Immigration on Productivity: Evidence from U.S. States.” Review of Economics and Statistics 94 (1), 348–58.Google Scholar
Peri, Giovanni, Shih, Kevin, and Sparber, Chad, 2015. “STEM Workers, H-1B Visas, and Productivity in US Cities.” Journal of Labor Economics 33 (S1), S225–55.Google Scholar
Peri, Giovanni and Yasenov, Vasil, 2015. “The Labor Market Effects of a Refugee Wave: Synthetic Control Method Meets the Mariel Boatlift,” NBER Working Paper No. 21801. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
ProPublica, 2017. “The Immigration Effect.” https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/gdp.Google Scholar
Waldinger, Fabian, 2010. “Quality Matters: The Expulsion of Professors and the Consequences for Ph.D. Student Outcomes in Nazi Germany.” Journal of Political Economy 118 (4), 787–831.Google Scholar
Waldinger, Fabian, 2012. “Peer Effects in Science: Evidence from the Dismissal of Scientists in Nazi Germany.” Review of Economic Studies 79 (2), 838–61.Google Scholar