Full Citation
Title: Immigration and the Effects on the U.S. Labor Market (1960-2000)
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2005
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Abstract: There has been a resurgence of immigration in the United States and in many other countries. The United Nations estimates that over 175 million people, or roughly 3 percent of the world’s population, now reside in a country where they were not born (United Nations 2002). Although most immigrants choose a “traditional” destination (such as the United States, Canada, or Australia), many other countries are also receiving relatively large immigrant flows. Nearly 11 percent of the population in France, 9 percent in Germany, 11 percent in Sweden, and 7 percent in the United Kingdom is foreign born. Not surprisingly, the impact of immigration on the host country’s labor market is now being heatedly debated in many countries. In the U.S. context, this concern has motivated a great deal of research that attempts to document how the U.S. labor market has adjusted to the largescale immigration in the past few decades. Three central questions have dominated much of the research: What is the contribution of immigration to the skill endowment of the workforce? How do the employment opportunities of native workers respond to immigration? And, who benefits and who loses? The policy significance of these questions is evident. For example, immigrants who have high levels of productivity and who adapt rapidly to conditions in the host country’s labor market can make a significant contribution to economic growth. Conversely, if immigrants lack the skills that employers demand and find it difficult to adapt, immigration may increase the size of the population that requires public . . .
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Authors: Borjas, George J
Publisher: Harvard University
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration
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