The Missing Pieces of the Economic Debate Over Immigration Reform

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Wharton Public Policy Initiative Issue Briefs
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
American Politics
Economic Policy
Labor Economics
Other Economics
Political Economy
Public Policy
Funder
Grant number
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
The Missing Pieces of the Economic Debate Over Immigration Reform (https://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/issue-brief/v6n7.php)
Author
Hernandez, Exequiel
Contributor
Abstract

To the extent that immigration reform is discussed in terms of economics, the debate tends to focus exclusively on labor issues-specifically, how immigrants affect jobs and wages for native citizens. But to understand the economic effects of immigration, and thus develop sounder policies, policymakers need to consider how immigration affects all three core components of economic growth: not just labor, but capital and innovation too. In the Penn Wharton Public Policy Brief, "The Missing Pieces of the Economic Debate Over Immigration Reform/whr.tn/2vmKbK8>," Professor Exequiel Hernandez discusses new research showing that immigration produces gains for the U.S. economy with respect to capital and innovation. Immigrants help to attract investment from foreign firms and significantly increase bilateral trade flows between the U.S. and their home countries. Immigrants also account for roughly a quarter of all U.S. entrepreneurs. They not only generate novel businesses and inventions, but also introduce novel ideas that U.S. citizens develop further to create new products and companies of their own. Just as importantly, labor, capital, and innovation are all interrelated. Policies that target one growth component (such as labor) can carry unintended negative consequences for the other two, and result in undesirable economic outcomes.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2018-08-06
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Recommended citation
Collection