American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 8,
no. 1, January 2016
(pp. 257–90)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
This paper demonstrates that low-skilled Mexican-born immigrants' location choices respond strongly to changes in local labor demand, which helps equalize spatial differences in employment outcomes for low-skilled native workers. We leverage the substantial geographic variation in labor demand during the Great Recession to identify migration responses to local shocks and find that low-skilled Mexican-born immigrants respond much more strongly than low-skilled natives. Further, Mexican mobility reduced the incidence of local demand shocks on natives, such that those living in metro areas with a substantial Mexican-born population experienced a roughly 50 percent weaker relationship between local shocks and local employment probabilities. (JEL E32, J15, J23, J24, J61, R23)Citation
Cadena, Brian C., and Brian K. Kovak. 2016. "Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8 (1): 257–90. DOI: 10.1257/app.20140095Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- E32 Business Fluctuations; Cycles
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J23 Labor Demand
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
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