Working Paper: NBER ID: w21882
Authors: Ran Abramitzky; Leah Platt Boustan
Abstract: The United States has long been perceived as a land of opportunity for immigrants. Yet, both in the past and today, US natives have expressed concern that immigrants fail to integrate into US society and lower wages for existing workers. This paper reviews the literatures on historical and contemporary migrant flows, yielding new insights on migrant selection, assimilation of immigrants into US economy and society, and the effect of immigration on the labor market.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: J61; N11; N12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| nature of migration selection has evolved (F22) | contemporary migrants are positively selected based on observable characteristics (F22) |
| immigrants reduce wages for some low-skilled native workers (F66) | overall immigration does not have net negative effects on the economy (K37) |
| immigrants lead to capital investment and economic growth (F21) | overall immigration does not have net negative effects on the economy (K37) |
| assimilation processes differ across time (J69) | contemporary methods reveal slower earnings convergence for recent immigrant cohorts (J69) |