Immigration and the Economic Status of African-American Men

Borjas, George J.; Grogger, Jeffrey; Hanson, Gordon H.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0335.2009.00803.x

Immigration and the Economic Status of African-American Men

Economica, Vol. 77, Issue 306, pp. 255-282, April 2010

28 Pages Posted: 2 Mar 2010

George J. Borjas

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jeffrey Grogger

University of Chicago - Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Gordon H. Hanson

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IRPS); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Abstract

The employment rate of black men, and particularly of low-skilled black men, fell precipitously between 1960 and 2000. At the same time, their incarceration rate rose. This paper examines the relation between immigration and these trends in employment and incarceration. Using data from the 1960–2000 US censuses, we find that a 10% immigration-induced increase in the supply of workers in a particular skill group reduced the black wage of that group by 2.5%, lowered the employment rate by 5.9 percentage points, and increased the incarceration rate by 1.3 percentage points.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Borjas, George J. and Grogger, Jeffrey and Hanson, Gordon H., Immigration and the Economic Status of African-American Men. Economica, Vol. 77, Issue 306, pp. 255-282, April 2010. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1562148 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2009.00803.x