More Hands, More Power? Estimating the Impact of Immigration on Output and Technology Choices Using Early 20th Century US Agriculture

Jeanne Lafortune, José Tessada and Carolina González-Velosa

No 431, Documentos de Trabajo from Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Abstract: Can shifts in output mix or technologies attenuate the impact of immigration on wages? We explore this using immigration-induced changes in relative labor supply at the county level in US Censuses of Agriculture in early 20th century. An increase in labor supply induced a shift away from capital-intensive crops and a reduction in farm size. Crop mix adjustments were more likely in counties less specialized in a given crop while adjustments in technological and organization changes were more marked in the rest. Suggestive evidence indicates that crop mix adjustments, but not organizational changes, were sufficient to limit wage impacts.

Keywords: Immigration; Agriculture; Output mix; Technological change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J43 J61 N51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-his and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: More hands, more power? Estimating the impact of immigration on output and technology choices using early 20th century US agriculture (2015)
Working Paper: More Hands, More Power? Estimating the Impact of Immigration on Output and Technology Choices Using Early 20th Century US Agriculture (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ioe:doctra:431

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