Immigrants and the Great Divergence
Abstract
An extensive literature has studied the spatial sorting of workers by skill since the 1980s. This paper extends the existing literature by using Census microdata to show that geographic sorting is also nativity-biased, and that immigrant workers sort into cities with higher wages and inelastic housing supplies. I use a spatial equilibrium model to predict worker sorting across housing supply elasticity in response to changes in local labor demand. I find that local labor demand shocks are a strong predictor of the observed skill- and nativity-biased sorting when the elasticity of migration for immigrants is greater than for natives.
An extensive literature has studied the spatial sorting of workers by skill since the 1980s. This paper extends the existing literature by using Census microdata to show that geographic sorting is also nativity-biased, and that immigrant workers sort into cities with higher wages and inelastic housing supplies. I use a spatial equilibrium model to predict worker sorting across housing supply elasticity in response to changes in local labor demand. I find that local labor demand shocks are a strong predictor of the observed skill- and nativity-biased sorting when the elasticity of migration for immigrants is greater than for natives.
Aging, Skill-Biased Structural Change, and Inequality
with Joe Kopecky
with Joe Kopecky
Abstract
(In progress)
(In progress)
Do immigrants Move to Cities with Niche Industries?
Abstract
(In progress)
(In progress)