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Evidence

The Effects of Immigration on the Economy and Society: An Interdisciplinary Approach

A rather complete treatment from David Card and Steven Raphael on the US market from 2009 ( Link to PDF ).

The paper's main conclusions are:

  • The relative supply of college graduates has increased substantially in the U.S., which has led to a decrease in the college-high school wage gap.

  • Immigration has a small effect on the relative wages of less-educated natives. The author argues that the impact of immigration on the relative wages of less-educated natives is small because immigrants and less-educated natives are not perfect substitutes in production.

  • The author suggests that the rise in residual wage inequality is more likely to be caused by institutional changes, such as the decline in unionization, and technological changes, rather than immigration.

  • The author also argues that the impact of immigration on inequality is small because the immigrant-native wage gap is small.

Economic and Fiscal consequences of Immigration

A complete book reviewing both theory and empirics Link to PDF

  • Introduction: The report provides an assessment of the impact of immigration on the economy and the fiscal system in the United States. It discusses the demographic trends and economic theories related to immigration.

  • Conceptual Framework for the Fiscal Analysis: The chapter discusses the framework used to analyze the fiscal impact of immigration. It includes the concept of fiscal balance and the factors that influence it.

  • Demographic, Economic, and Fiscal Context: The chapter provides an overview of the demographic, economic, and fiscal context of immigration in the United States. It discusses the trends in immigration, the characteristics of immigrants, and the fiscal situation in the United States.

  • Immigrants' Education, Wages, and Employment: The chapter discusses the education, wages, and employment of immigrants in the United States. It compares the economic outcomes of immigrants with those of native-born Americans.

  • Economic Theory and Immigration: The chapter discusses the economic theories related to immigration. It includes the theories of labor market competition, fiscal impact, and economic growth.

  • Empirical Research on Employment and Wage Impacts: The chapter reviews the empirical research on the impact of immigration on employment and wages in the United States. It discusses the findings of various studies on the topic.

  • Fiscal Impact of Immigration: The chapter discusses the fiscal impact of immigration in the United States. It includes the impact on government revenues and expenditures.

  • Immigration's Impact on Economic Growth and Future Fiscal Balance: The chapter discusses the impact of immigration on economic growth and the future fiscal balance in the United States. It includes the potential benefits and costs of immigration.

  • Findings and Conclusions: The chapter summarizes the findings of the report and provides conclusions. It discusses the overall impact of immigration on the economy and the fiscal system in the United States.

The report concludes that immigration has an overall positive impact on the long-run economic growth in the U.S. However, the first-generation immigrants impose a fiscal burden on state and local governments, while the second and third generations contribute more in taxes than they consume in public services.

Immigration, Jobs, and Employment Protection: Evidence from Europe

Paper with in depth analysis (Link to PDF from Bank of Italy).

Over the past fifteen years, there has been a significant increase in the demand for jobs requiring more abstract and complex skills as opposed to manual and routine skills. This shift in demand has occurred alongside a substantial increase in immigration in Europe.

The authors suggest that immigration can be a supply factor influencing this shift. Immigrants tend to specialize in non-complex and routine skills due to their limited knowledge of the local language and norms. This increases the supply of simple skills and reduces the supply of complex skills in the labor market, thereby increasing the return to complex skills.

This dynamic creates an incentive for native workers to move to occupations requiring more abstract and complex skills. The authors' empirical analysis, based on data from the European Labour Force Survey, supports this hypothesis.

The authors also find that immigration stimulates hiring in jobs with high complexity content, while separations are not significantly affected by immigrants. This positive reallocation process was stronger in relatively flexible labor markets and was particularly prominent for less educated workers.

The authors conclude that by moving to complex jobs, natives can protect their wages from competition with immigrants and take advantage of the creation of jobs that complement the manual tasks provided by immigrants. They suggest that allowing this mechanism to work may benefit less educated natives, particularly through more hiring in those occupations. However, strong labor protection can hinder this mechanism and reduce labor markets' ability to absorb immigrants through occupational upgrading of natives.

Does Immigration affet wages - Meta Analysis

Link to PDF from HAL

Papers from Borjas

Marielitos - A reappraisal and his recent NBER Paper

Others

Economic growth: The paper "Immigration, Trade and Productivity in Services: Evidence from U.K. Firms" by Ottaviano, Peri, and Wright provides data on the impact of immigration on economic growth in the UK.

Job creation: The paper "Immigrants and Native Workers: New Analysis Using Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data" by Ottaviano and Peri provides data on the job creation by immigrants.

Educational attainment: The paper "The Educational Attainment of Immigrants: Trends and Implications" by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides data on the educational attainment of immigrants.

Public services usage: The paper "The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration" by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides data on the usage of public services by immigrants.

Social cohesion: The paper "Immigration, Social Cohesion and Social Capital: A Critical Review" by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides data on the impact of immigration on social cohesion.