Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that low-skilled Mexican-born immigrants’ location choices in the U.S. respond strongly to changes in local labor demand, and that this geographic elasticity helps equalize spatial differences in labor market outcomes for low-skilled native workers, who are much less responsive. We leverage the substantial geographic variation in employment losses that occurred during Great Recession, and our results confirm the standard finding that high-skilled populations are quite geographically responsive to employment opportunities while low-skilled populations are much less so. However, low-skilled immigrants, especially those from Mexico, respond even more strongly than high-skilled native-born workers. Moreover, we show that natives living in metro areas with a substantial Mexican-born population are insulated from the effects of local labor demand shocks compared to those in places with few Mexicans. The reallocation of the Mexican-born workforce reduced the incidence of local demand shocks on low-skilled natives’ employment outcomes by more than 50 percent.

The Spillover Consequences of an Enforcement-First U.S. Immigration Regime

“…With more immigrants in new immigrant gateways in the United States resulting, among other things, from growth in the internal mobility of immigrants (Cadena & Kovak, 2013), many localities began taking "matters into their own hands" and passed legislation aimed at barring immigrants from employment, housing, and social services, among other rights. And even though not all state-level laws and ordinances are the same, as in some regions there are inclusionary state-level laws passed (see below), many have focused on disrupting life for immigrants and creating conditions so hostile that immigrants will "self-deport."…”

Where science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates move: Human capital, employment patterns, and interstate migration in the United States

“…We expect this measure to be positively associated with RIA for all human capital groups in both periods although there may be variation in responsiveness to labour market conditions by human capital. Unites States migration rates, especially among the unskilled, are at historical lows; these low mobilities are preventing labour markets from equilibrating (Cadena & Kovak, ).…”

The response of U.S. regional demographics to import shocks

“…We further contribute to the discussion by additionally looking for evidence of compositional changes. Conversely, Cadena and Kovak (2016) show that immigrants (particularly low-skilled Mexican workers) are highly responsive to local labor conditions. Bound and Holzer (2000) find that following demand shocks, less-educated workers and black workers are substantially less likely to move out of declining metro areas.…”