Immigration and the Work Force

by Borjas, George J.; Freeman, Richard B.

• ISBN13: 9780226066332
• ISBN10: 0226066339
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Since the 1970s, the striking increase in immigration to the United States has been accompanied by a marked change in the composition of the immigrant community, with a much higher percentage of foreign-born workers coming from Latin America and Asia and a dramatically lower percentage from Europe. This timely study is unique in presenting new data sets on the labor force, wage rates, and demographic conditions of both the U.S. and source-area economies through the 1980s. The contributors analyze the economic effects of immigration on the United States and selected source areas, with a focus on Puerto Rico and El Salvador. They examine the education and job performance of foreign-born workers; assimilation, fertility, and wage rates; and the impact of remittances by immigrants to family members on the overall gross domestic product of source areas. A revealing and original examination of a topic of growing importance, this book will stand as a guide for further research on immigration and on the economies of developing countries.

Author Biography

George J. Borjas is professor of economics at the University of California at San Diego. Richard B. Freeman is professor of economics at Harvard University and director of the Labor Studies Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction and Summary	1	(16)
George J. Borjas
Richard B. Freeman
National Origin and the Skills of Immigrants in the Postwar Period	17	(32)
George J. Borjas
Out-Migration and Return Migration of Puerto Ricans	49	(18)
Fernando A. Ramos
The Assimilation of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market	67	(26)
Robert J. LaLonde
Robert H. Topel
The Fertility of Immigrant Women: Evidence from High-Fertility Source Countries	93	(42)
Francine D. Blau
Mass Emigration	135	(42)
Remittances
and Economic Adjustment: The Case of El Salvador in the 1980s
Edward Funkhouser
When the Minimum Wage Really Bites: The Effect of the U.S.-Level Minimum on Puerto Rico	177	(36)
Alida J. Castillo-Freeman
Richard B. Freeman
On the Labor Market Effects of Immigration and Trade	213	(32)
George J. Borjas
Richard B. Freeman
Lawrence F. Katz
The Effect of Immigrant Arrivals on Migratory Patterns of Native Workers	245	(26)
Randall K. Filer
Contributors	271	(2)
Author Index	273	(4)
Subject Index	277