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Title: The Hinge of the Golden Door: Labor Market Impacts of Immigrant Exclusion

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2022

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Abstract: I examine the impacts of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, America's first ever immigration restriction that prohibited entry to Chinese laborers, on native labor market outcomes. To identify the causal effect, I utilize variation in pre-1882 Chinese settlement and match on individual-and labor market-level characteristics. Using individual-level linked Census data from 1880-1900 of over two million US workers, I find the Chinese exclusion significantly slowed the long-term occupational mobility of native workers, with the effects strongest for low-skilled and unemployed workers. I find evidence in support of what I term a "honeypot" effect: low-skilled natives likely benefited from the labor shortage through higher wages in the short-run, but in the long-run the shortage disincentivized upskilling and slowed occupational upgrading. Moreover, I show Chinese laborers were almost entirely substituted by immigrants from other countries in the long-run, likely negating positive wage effects.

Url: https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2479/Chinese_Exclusion_Act_NBER_2023.pdf

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Authors: Hoi, Dean

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity

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