Full Citation

Title: Should the U.S. Have Locked the Heaven's Door? Reassessing the Benefits of the Postwar Immigration

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2005

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: This paper examines the economic impact of the second great immigration wave (1945-2000) on the US economy. Contrary to recent studies, we estimate that immigration induced important net gains and small redistributive effects among natives. Our analysis relies on a computable general equilibrium model combining the major interactions between immigrants and natives (labor market impact, fiscal impact, capital deepening, endogenous education, endogenous inequality). We use a backsolving method to calibrate the model on historical data and then consider two counterfactual variants: a cutoff of all immigration flows since 1950 and a stronger selection policy. According to our simulations, the postwar US immigration is beneficial for all cohorts and all skill groups. These gains are closely related to a long-run fiscal gain and a small labor market impact of immigrants. Finally, we also demonstrate that all generations would have benefited from a stronger selection of immigrants.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Ragot, Lionel; Docquier, Frederic; Chojnicki, Xavier

Series Title:

Publication Number: 1676

Institution: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Pages:

Publisher Location: Bonn, Germany

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration

Countries: