scholarly journals Tradability and the Labor‐Market Impact of Immigration: Theory and Evidence From the United States

Econometrica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 1071-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Burstein ◽  
Gordon Hanson ◽  
Lin Tian ◽  
Jonathan Vogel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Simple Condition ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Local Labor Market ◽  
Relative Wages ◽  
Theoretical Mechanism ◽  
Using Data

In this paper, we study how occupation (or industry) tradability shapes local labor‐market adjustment to immigration. Theoretically, we derive a simple condition under which the arrival of foreign‐born labor into a region crowds native‐born workers out of (or into) immigrant‐intensive jobs, thus lowering (or raising) relative wages in these occupations, and we explain why this process differs within tradable versus within nontradable activities. Using data for U.S. commuting zones over the period 1980–2012, we find—consistent with our theory—that a local influx of immigrants crowds out employment of native‐born workers in more relative to less immigrant‐intensive nontradable jobs, but has no such effect across tradable occupations. Further analysis of occupation labor payments is consistent with adjustment to immigration within tradables occurring more through changes in output (versus changes in prices) when compared to adjustment within nontradables, thereby confirming our model's theoretical mechanism. We then use the model to explore the quantitative consequences of counterfactual changes in U.S. immigration on real wages at the occupation and region level.

The Labor Market Skills of Recent Male Immigrants: Evidence from the Current Population Survey

ILR Review ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Funkhouser ◽  
Stephen J. Trejo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Current Population Survey ◽  
Population Survey ◽  
Census Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Recent Immigrants ◽  
Current Population ◽  
Using Data

Using data from special supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS), the authors track the education and hourly earnings of recent male immigrants to the United States. In terms of these measures of labor market skills, the CPS data suggest that immigrants who came in the late 1980s were more skilled than those who arrived earlier in the decade. This pattern represents a break from the steady decline in immigrant skill levels observed in 1940–80 Census data. Despite the encouraging trend over the 1980s, however, the average skills of recent immigrants remain low by historical standards.

scholarly journals Local Labor Market Fluctuations and Physical Activity among Adults in the United States, 1990–2009

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruopeng An ◽  
Junyi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
The United States ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Local Labor Market

Being physically active is a key health promotion strategy. The late-2000s economic downturn, labeled the “Great Recession,” could have profound impact on individuals' health behaviors including engagement in physical activity. We investigated the relationship between local labor market fluctuations and physical activity among adults 18 years and older in the United States by linking individual-level data in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 1990–2009 waves to unemployment rate data by residential county and survey month/year. The association between labor market fluctuations and physical activity was examined in multivariate regressions with county and month/year fixed effects. Deteriorating labor market conditions were found to predict decreases in physical activity—a one percentage point increase in monthly county unemployment rate was on average associated with a reduction in monthly moderate-intensity physical activity of 0.18 hours. There was some preliminary evidence on the heterogeneous responses of physical activity to local labor market fluctuations across age and income groups and races/ethnicities. Findings of this study suggest special attentions to be paid to the potential detrimental impact of major recessions on physical activity. This correlational study has design and measurement limitations. Future research with longitudinal or experimental study design is warranted.

Origin-Country Culture, Migration Sequencing, and Female Employment: Variations among Immigrant Women in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian He ◽  
Theodore P. Gerber
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Gender Role Beliefs ◽  
Country Culture ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Cultural Legacies ◽  
Using Data

Recent studies suggest that the employment rates of foreign-born women are related to cultural norms regarding gender and work in their origin countries. However, origin-country culture may have less influence on the labor-supply decisions of women who self-select into migration precisely in order to pursue work abroad. Female migrants self-select on the basis of employment opportunities to varying extents, and it is hard to measure which ones do and which do not. We propose “migration sequencing” (the timing of married partners’ respective migrations) as a proxy for female migrant selectivity with respect to gender-role beliefs and work incentives: female lead migrants and individual (unmarried) migrants are, on average, more motivated by labor-market opportunities or human-capital formation than concurrent or follower migrants. Using data from the American Community Survey, we analyze employment rates of female immigrants to the United States from 130 countries. Our results confirm that sending-country cultural legacies have smaller effects for lead and unmarried migrants and the largest effect for follower migrants. Consistent with our theoretical reasoning, lead and unmarried migrants apparently self-select on economic motivations or less traditional gender norms more than do follower migrants, whose employment rates are thus more influenced by origin-country culture. The findings yield a more nuanced understanding of the variable role origin-country culture plays in immigrants’ structural incorporation in the United States and potentially in other destinations as well.

Double Disadvantage

2016 ◽  
Vol 666 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Durand ◽  
Douglas S. Massey ◽  
Karen A. Pren
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undocumented Migrants ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Illegal Migrants ◽  
Secondary Sector ◽  
Substantial Decline

From 1988 to 2008, the United States’ undocumented population grew from 2 million to 12 million persons. It has since stabilized at around 11 million, a majority of whom are Mexican. As of this writing, some 60 percent of all Mexican immigrants in the United States are in the country illegally. This article analyzes the effect of being undocumented on sector of employment and wages earned in the United States. We show that illegal migrants are disproportionately channeled into the secondary labor market, where they experience a double disadvantage, earning systematically lower wages by virtue of working in the secondary sector and receiving an additional economic penalty because they are undocumented. Mexican immigrants, in particular, experienced a substantial decline in real wages between 1970 and 2010 attributable to their rising share of undocumented migrants in U.S. labor markets during a time when undocumented hiring was criminalized.

scholarly journals Hardship Among Immigrants and the Native-born in the United States

Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Iceland
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Income Poverty ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Poverty Measure ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Using Data

Abstract This study examines the prevalence of several types of hardship (e.g., bill paying and housing hardships) among immigrants by race and ethnicity in the United States using data from the 2008 and 2014 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and logistic regressions. I find that Blacks, and to some extent Hispanics, are more likely to report hardships than Whites and Asians, who are about equally likely to report hardships. Exploring results by nativity and citizenship status, I find that immigrants who became U.S. citizens are less likely than the native-born population to report some kinds of hardship. Undocumented immigrants, however, are more likely to report some kinds of hardships, particularly in the 2008 panel conducted at the time of the Great Recession, which hit immigrants especially hard; this relationship, however, is explained by the lower incomes of undocumented immigrant households in the 2008 panel. Results within racial and ethnic groups are generally in the same direction but are less frequently statistically significant. Overall, these findings suggest that immigrants are not particularly prone to hardship, especially when other characteristics are controlled for. In fact, the lower likelihood of some hardships among foreign-born citizens suggests that they are positively selected: they may have unobserved characteristics that are protective, such as better health, stronger social networks, or money management skills. Because the foreign-born are less likely to be disadvantaged vis-à-vis the native-born when hardship rather than the official income poverty measure is used, this study highlights the importance of using multiple measures when assessing the well-being of immigrants.

scholarly journals The Labor-Market Skills of Foreign-born Workers in the United States, 2007–2017

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Rubén Hernández-Murillo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Apparent Increase ◽  
The Past ◽  
Precipitous Decline

Various measures of the labor-market skills of foreign-born workers have improved during the past decade. The largest gains are concentrated among immigrants from Mexico, who traditionally have shown the lowest skill levels among foreign-born workers. The data suggest that the apparent increase in skills is the result of a shift in the distribution of immigrants coming to the United States, with increased immigration of workers from Asia and a precipitous decline in immigration of workers from Mexico.

Supplementary Education at College and Its Consequences for Individuals’ Labor Market Outcomes in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-137
Author(s):  
Steve R. Entrich ◽  
Soo-yong Byun
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Supplementary Education ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Extended Education ◽  
Positive Effect

The current study seeks to expand our knowledge on extended education and ist potential contribution to social inequality by examining socioeconomic disparities in supplementary education (SE) at college and its impact on labor market outcomes. Using data from the United States Education Longitudinal Study, logistic and linear regressions deliver the following main findings: (1) Socioeconomic status (SES) significantly affects SE participation, net of other factors. (2) With higher involvement in SE activities, neither employment nor income prospects significantly increase. (3) Low SES graduates are slightly more likely to benefit from SE than high SES graduates. (4) Among high-impact SE practices, only internships exert a positive effect on labor market outcomes.

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