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Immigration in American Economic History

  • Ran Abramitzky
  • Leah Boustan
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 55, no. 4, December 2017
(pp. 1311-45)
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Abstract

The United States has long been perceived as a land of opportunity for immigrants. Yet, both in the past and today, US natives have expressed concern that immigrants fail to integrate into US society and lower wages for existing workers. This paper reviews the literatures on historical and contemporary migrant flows, yielding new insights on migrant selection, assimilation of immigrants into US economy and society, and the effect of immigration on the labor market.

Citation

Abramitzky, Ran, and Leah Boustan. 2017. "Immigration in American Economic History." Journal of Economic Literature, 55 (4): 1311-45. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20151189

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • J11 Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
  • J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
  • N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
  • N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-