Measuring immigration's effects on labor demand: A reexamination of the Mariel Boatlift

Örn B. Bodvarsson, Hendrik F. Van den Berg and Joshua Lewer ()

Labour Economics, 2008, vol. 15, issue 4, 560-574

Abstract: Why do immigration shocks tend to have benign effects on native wages? One reason is that immigrants as consumers contribute to the demand for their services. We model an economy where workers spend their wages on a locally produced good, then test it via a reexamination of the 1980 "Mariel Boatlift" using Wacziarg's Channel Transmission methodology. Current Population Survey data on workers in 9 different retail labor markets and Survey of Buying Power data on retail spending by consumers in Miami and four comparison cities are used. We find strong evidence that the Mariel Boatlift augmented labor demand.

Keywords: F22; J61; Immigration; Consumption; Wages; Channels; Retail (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (39)

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Working Paper: Measuring Immigration's Effects on Labor Demand: A Reexamination of the Mariel Boatlift (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:15:y:2008:i:4:p:560-574

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