The Impact of Immigration on the Educational Attainment of Natives

57 Pages Posted: 4 May 2012 Last revised: 24 Apr 2023

See all articles by Jennifer Hunt

Jennifer Hunt

McGill University - Department of Economics; Rutgers University; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 2012

Abstract

Using a state panel based on census data from 1940-2010, I examine the impact of immigration on the high school completion of natives in the United States. Immigrant children could compete for schooling resources with native children, lowering the return to native education and discouraging native high school completion. Conversely, native children might be encouraged to complete high school in order to avoid competing with immigrant high-school dropouts in the labor market. I find evidence that both channels are operative and that the net effect is positive, particularly for native-born blacks, though not for native-born Hispanics. An increase of one percentage point in the share of immigrants in the population aged 11-64 increases the probability that natives aged 11-17 eventually complete 12 years of schooling by 0.3 percentage points, and increases the probability for native-born blacks by 0.4 percentage points. I account for the endogeneity of immigrant flows by using instruments based on 1940 settlement patterns.

Suggested Citation

Hunt, Jennifer and Hunt, Jennifer, The Impact of Immigration on the Educational Attainment of Natives (May 2012). NBER Working Paper No. w18047, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2050837

Jennifer Hunt (Contact Author)

McGill University - Department of Economics ( email )

855 Sherbrooke Street West
Leacock Building Room 443
Montreal, QC H3A 2T7
Canada
514-398-6866 (Phone)

Rutgers University ( email )

75 Hamilton Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States