Working Paper: NBER ID: w3069
Authors: David Card
Abstract: This paper presents an empirical analysis of the effect of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami labor market, focusing on the wages and unemployment rates of less-skilled workers. The Mariel immigrants increased the population and labor force of the Miami metropolitan area by 7 percent. Most of the immigrants were relatively unskilled: as a result, the proportional increase in labor supply to less-skilled occupations and industries was much greater. Nevertheless, an analysis of wages of non-Cuban workers over the 1979-85 period reveals virtually no effect of the Mariel influx. Likewise, there is no indication that the Boatlift lead to an increase in the unemployment rates of less-skilled blacks or other non-Cuban workers. Even among the Cuban population wages and unemployment rates of earlier immigrants were not substantially effected by the arrival of the Mariels.
Keywords: Immigration; Labor Market; Wages; Unemployment
JEL Codes: J61; J23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mariel boatlift (H84) | increase in population and labor force of Miami metropolitan area (J69) |
| increase in population and labor force of Miami metropolitan area (J69) | proportional increase in labor supply to less-skilled occupations (J24) |
| Mariel boatlift (H84) | no significant effect on wages for non-Cuban workers (J79) |
| Mariel boatlift (H84) | no increase in unemployment rates of less-skilled blacks or non-Cuban workers (J68) |
| Mariel boatlift (H84) | no substantial effect on wages and unemployment rates of earlier Cuban immigrants (J69) |
| characteristics of new immigrants (K37) | decrease in average skill level of Cuban labor force (F66) |