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Title: Task Specialization, Immigration, and Wages

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: Large inflows of less educated immigrants may reduce wages paidto comparably-educated, native-born workers. However, if less educatedforeign- and native-born workers specialize in different productiontasks, because of different abilities, immigration will causenatives to reallocate their task supply, thereby reducing downwardwage pressure. Using occupational task-intensity data from theO*NET dataset and individual US census data, we demonstrate thatforeign-born workers specialize in occupations intensive in manualphysicallabor skills while natives pursue jobs more intensive incommunication-language tasks. This mechanism can explain whyeconomic analyses find only modest wage consequences of immigrationfor less educated native-born workers.

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Authors: Peri, Giovanni; Sparber, Chad

Periodical (Full): American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Issue: 1

Volume: 3

Pages: 135-169

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration

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