Should the U.S.have locked the heaven's door? reassessing the benefits of the postwar immigration
By: by Xavier Chojnicki, Frédéric Docquier, Lionel Ragot.
Contributors: Docquier, Frédéric.
Series: Discussion paper ;; no. 1676; Discussion paper (Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit : Online) ;; no. 1676
Publisher: IZA
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Bonn, Germany
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: United States -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 20th century.
Description: "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"--Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
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