Task Specialization, Immigration, and Wages
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19600430 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Giovanni Peri (0000-0002-4979-8426, University of California, Davis), Chad Sparber (0000-0001-9974-8809, Colgate University) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 135-169 |
| Publication date | 2009-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Economic Journal Applied Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1945-7790 • E-ISSN: 1945-7782 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/app.1.3.135 |
| OpenAlex | W2132413086 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 181 |
| References cited | 26 |
Large inflows of less educated immigrants may reduce wages paid to comparably-educated, native-born workers. However, if less educated foreign- and native-born workers specialize in different production tasks, because of different abilities, immigration will cause natives to reallocate their task supply, thereby reducing downward wage pressure. Using occupational task-intensity data from the O*NET dataset and individual US census data, we demonstrate that foreign-born workers specialize in occupations intensive in manual-physical labor skills while natives pursue jobs more intensive in communication-language tasks. This mechanism can explain why economic analyses find only modest wage consequences of immigration for less educated native-born workers. (JEL J24, J31, J61)
Census · Demographic economics · Economics · Foreign born · Immigration · Labour economics · Microeconomics · Political science · Population · Sociology · Wage · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
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| Unique citing works | 181 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 10,06 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 151 |