Immigration and African-American Employment Opportunities: The Response of Wages, Employment, and Incarceration to Labor Supply Shocks
62 Pages Posted: 19 Sep 2006 Last revised: 16 Sep 2022
Date Written: September 2006
Abstract
The employment rate of black men, and particularly of low-skill black men, fell precipitously from 1960 to 2000. At the same time, the incarceration rate of black men rose markedly. This paper examines the relation between immigration and these trends in black employment and incarceration. Using data drawn from the 1960-2000 U.S. Censuses, we find a strong correlation between immigration, black wages, black employment rates, and black incarceration rates. As immigrants disproportionately increased the supply of workers in a particular skill group, the wage of black workers in that group fell, the employment rate declined, and the incarceration rate rose. Our analysis suggests that a 10-percent immigrant-induced increase in the supply of a particular skill group reduced the black wage by 4.0 percent, lowered the employment rate of black men by 3.5 percentage points, and increased the incarceration rate of blacks by almost a full percentage point.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market
By David Card
-
Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of Higher Immigration
By David Card
-
The Effects of Immigration on the Labor Market Outcomes of Natives
By Joseph G. Altonji and David Card
-
Searching for the Effect of Immigration on the Labor Market
By George J. Borjas, Richard B. Freeman, ...
-
Is the New Immigration Really so Bad?
By David Card
-
Is the New Immigration Really so Bad?
By David Card