On the Macroeconomic and Welfare Effects of Illegal Immigration

Liu, Xiangbo (2009): On the Macroeconomic and Welfare Effects of Illegal Immigration.

Abstract

This paper investigates the macroeconomic and welfare effects of illegal immigration on the native born within a dynamic general equilibrium framework with labor market frictions. A key feature of the model is that job competition is allowed for between domestic workers and illegal immigrants. We calibrate the model to match some key statistics of the postwar U.S. economy. The model predicts that in the long run illegal immigration is a boon, but the employment opportunities of domestic workers are strongly negatively affected. The model also predicts that the level of domestic consumption has a U-shaped relationship with the share of illegal immigrants.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Economic Growth; Immigration; Welfare; Search; Unemployment
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O41 - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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