Walls or Welcome Mats? Immigration and the Labor Market

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Wharton Public Policy Initiative Issue Briefs
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immigration
labor
mobility
women
wages
distribution of income
global
GDP
Labor Economics
Labor Relations
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Walls or Welcome Mats? Immigration and the Public Treasury
Walls or Welcome Mats? Immigration and the Labor Market (http://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/issue-brief/v4n4.php)
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While the public debate on immigration reform has been divisive, the tools of economics provide clear lessons for a way forward. The single most important lesson that economics holds for immigration policymakers is that immigration restrictions are costly, because they interfere with the free movement of labor. Most economists believe that the gains to global GDP from greater labor mobility are very large. Beyond the estimated gains to the world economy, the consensus among economists is that, as a whole, U.S. natives gain from immigration in the labor market. While immigration may have an adverse effect on some native wages and employment—particularly for the least skilled workers—the empirical evidence indicates these effects, if existent, are small.

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2016-05-01
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