Abramitzky, Ran
[Author]
;
Ager, Philipp
[Other];
Boustan, Leah Platt
[Other];
Cohen, Elior
[Other];
Hansen, Casper W.
[Other]National Bureau of Economic Research
Published:
Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2019
Published in:NBER working paper series ; no. w26536
Extent:
1 Online-Ressource; illustrations (black and white)
Language:
English
DOI:
10.3386/w26536
Identifier:
Reproduction note:
Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
Origination:
Footnote:
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files
Mode of access: World Wide Web
Description:
In the 1920s, the United States substantially reduced immigrant entry by imposing country-specific quotas. We compare local labor markets with more or less exposure to the national quotas due to differences in initial immigrant settlement. A puzzle emerges: the earnings of existing US-born workers declined after the border closure, despite the loss of immigrant labor supply. We find that more skilled US-born workers - along with unrestricted immigrants from Mexico and Canada - moved into affected urban areas, completely replacing European immigrants. By contrast, the loss of immigrant workers encouraged farmers to shift toward capital-intensive agriculture and discouraged entry from unrestricted workers