Immigrants & the economy: Lecture Notes Outline



Immigrants & the Economy & Government Budgets: Lecture Note Outline

Overview of topic – 2 key Themes:

1. How do immigrants do / fare in US economy – compare immigrants to natives, and compare immigrant sub-groups (re: education, income, occupation, entrepreneurship), and main explanations for the differences (P&R ch. 4)

2. Immigrant impact on Govt. Budgets and on overall US and State economies – Overall, positive, negative, or mixed? What are main pro’s and con’s (positives and negatives)

Explanations for differing immigrant outcomes in US economy? (P&R Ch. 4)

Mode of Incorporation / Context of Reception (Govt. response, Labor Markets, Ethnic Community/social capital)

Individual explanations (Human Capital), & Cultural explanations

Split Labor Market theory : 1. Primary labor Market 2. Secondary Labor market

Immigrants fill labor demand in both, but especially Secondary (&recall types of immigrants form P&R: Professional, entrepreneurial, and Labor) [from P&R ch. 2]

& Hour-Glass economy in US in recent decades (increasing inequality)-- & how immigrant labor fits into that. [P&R ch. 1]

Social Distance vs. Physical Distance -- Class background, rural-urban background, Education level, etc. similarity or difference to US key to immigrant adjustment more important than Physical / Geographic distance traveled as immigrant(Lecture only, but is in web reading by P&R for health).

-- E.G., Mexican labor migrant vs. Chinese or Indian professional immigrant (Phys distance vs. social distance for each, & link to education & Eng. Language learning).

Overview of P&R Economic data charts: On Country or origin differences & Immigrant education levels, income, occupation (professional & entrepreneurial), poverty, etc. Bimodal / Polarized distribution overall (P&R Ch 4)

Point is not to memorize all the data but to recognize patterns, such as which immigrant groups (regions of world & country of origin) tend to rank where on ed., income, etc. (Asian, Latin Americans, African, European, etc.) and some of the exceptions to those trends.

And how immigrants compare to US native population.

Showed sections of 1 videos on Immigrant workers in Ag and Meatpacking -- “Food Inc.” – Meat packing in NC. And Iowa, and Immigrant workers and labor issues (& threat of deportation) Move to rural areas, break unions, cut costs, high injury rate & increase line speed, high-labor turnover rate, … Where immigrants fit in (labor recruiting, vulnerability to exploitation & role of deportation fear)

3 Historical Periods in Govt. regulation (or lack of) in Meat Packing (& many industries) [Lecture & video]

1. Early 20th century, little govt. regulation and few worker rights,

2. Early-Mid-20th century (through 1970s), a lot of govt. regulation, worker unions strong,;

3. Late 20th century & Early 21st century, little govt. regulation, weak unions, falling worker pay and work conditions, etc.

& Where Immigrant workers fit in for each period (mainly # 1 & 3)

The overall effect of immigrants on the US economy, & especially on the labor market (complement natives or compete) ? Which US natives benefit or are unaffected, and when is effect more adverse and for whom in US? Immigration Key to growth of US & MD labor market (which is key to growth of US economy) (MD Immgn. Commission web rdg.)

Govt. budget impact of immigrants:

Federal level-- undocumented immigrants tax contribution to Social Security and Medicare (Goss et al. web rdg..)

State & Local level- What are 3 main services state & local govts. provide for unauthorized immigrants? What are state taxes paid by unauthorized immigrants to state g? How does cost compare to revenue, in approximate terms (i.e., roughly what % of services used are paid for by taxes paid by unauthorized immigrants, at state level?) (Cong. Budget Office Study).

Texas Study of State-wide Economic and State Govt. Budget Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants (lecture only).

Maryland case – What do immigrants contribute to MD overall economy in general, and what is cost of service for immigrants vs. taxes pd. In MD—Key issue of whether to include US citizen children of undocumented immigrants in calculating costs. (MD Immgn. Commission web rdg.)

Overall immigrant impact on govt. budgets---Compare to State & local govt impact vs. federal impact.

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