The Dynamics of Immigration and Wages
Published May 10, 2010
There is considerable debate in the literature about the effects of immigration on workers' labor market outcomes. This paper presents a new approach to the analysis of the relationship between immigration and wages based on a panel vector autoregression (VAR). The VAR analysis of a panel of US states shows that immigration does not have a significant effect on wages or internal migration. By contrast, wages do affect immigration: a 10 percent increase in wages causes up to a 20 percent increase in immigrant inflow. The effect is strongest for low-skill immigrants while it is small and insignificant for high-skill immigrants.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Web-Only
- Year: 2010
- Pages: 51
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/WR755
- Document Number: WR-755
Citation
RAND Style Manual
Barcellos, Silvia Helena, The Dynamics of Immigration and Wages, RAND Corporation, WR-755, 2010. As of July 10, 2026: https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR755.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Barcellos, Silvia Helena, The Dynamics of Immigration and Wages. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2010. https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR755.html.
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