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Title: The Impact of Immigrant Dynasties on Wage Inequality

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2004

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Abstract: I construct a set of dynamic macroeconomic models to analyze the effect of unskilled immigration on wage inequality. The immigrants or their descendants do not remain unskilledover time they may approach or exceed the general level of educational attainment. In the baseline model, the economys capital supply is determined endogenously by the savings behavior of infinite-lived dynasties, and I also consider models in which the supply of capital is perfectly elastic, or exogenously determined. I derive a simple formula that determines the time discounted value of the skill premium enjoyed by college-educated workers following a change in the rate of immigration for unskilled workers, or a change in the degree or rate at which unskilled immigrants become skilled. I compare the calculations of the skill premiums to data from the U.S. Current Population Survey to determine the long-run effect of different immigrant groups on wage inequality in the United States.JEL Classification Numbers: J61, O41.Key Words: Immigration, Educational Attainment, Wage Inequality.

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Authors: Ben-Gad, Michael

Conference Name: Conference on Economics of Immigration and Social Diversity held in Honour of Tikva Lecker

Publisher Location: Bar-Ilan Univ, Ramat Gan, Israel

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Education, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration

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