Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/305655 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17213
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Previous research finds that the greater geographic mobility of foreign than native-born workers facilitates labor market adjustment to shifting regional economic conditions. We examine immigration's role in enabling U.S. commuting zones to respond to manufacturing job loss caused by import competition from China. Although foreign-born population headcounts fell by a larger proportion than those of the native-born in trade-exposed regions, the contribution of immigration to labor market adjustment in this episode was small. Because most U.S. immigrants arrived in the country after manufacturing regions were already mature, few took jobs in industries that later saw import surges. The foreign-born population share in regions with high trade exposure was only three-fifths that in regions with low exposure. Immigration may do more to aid adjustment to cyclical shocks, in which job loss follows recent hiring booms, than to aid adjustment to secular decline, in which hiring booms occurred longer ago.
Subjects: 
immigration
import competition
geographic labor mobility
manufacturing decline
job loss
JEL: 
E24
F14
F16
J23
J31
L60
O47
R12
R23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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