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Do Interest Groups Affect Immigration?

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Author Info
Giovanni Facchini () (University of Essex, University of Milan, CEPR, LdA and CESifo)
Anna Maria Mayda () (Georgetown University, CEPR, LdA and IZA)
Prachi Mishra () (International Monetary Fund)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

While anecdotal evidence suggests that interest groups play a key role in shaping immigration, there is no systematic empirical evidence on this issue. To motivate our analysis, we develop a simple theoretical model where migration policy is the result of the interaction between organized groups with conflicting interests towards labor flows. We evaluate the key predictions of the model using a new, industry-level dataset from the United States that we construct by combining information on the total number of immigrants and H1B visas with data on lobbying expenditures associated with immigration. We find robust evidence that both pro- and anti-immigration interest groups play a statistically significant and economically relevant role in shaping migration across sectors. Barriers to migration are lower in sectors in which business lobbies incur larger lobbying expenditures and higher in sectors where labor unions are more important.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3183.

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Length: 65 pages
Date of creation: Nov 2007
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3183

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Related research
Keywords: immigration; immigration policy; interest groups; political economy;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  2. Kishore Gawande & Usree Bandyopadhyay, 2000. "Is Protection for Sale? Evidence on the Grossman-Helpman Theory of Endogenous Protection," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 139-152, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Gordon H. Hanson, 2006. "Illegal Migration from Mexico to the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 869-924, December.
    Other versions:
  7. David G. Blanchflower, 2007. "International Patterns of Union Membership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 1-28, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Benhabib, Jess, 1996. "On the political economy of immigration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1737-1743, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2008. "The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and US Ethnic Invention," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-005, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
  2. Paolo E Giordani & Michele Ruta, 2008. "Prejudice and Immigration," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000002276, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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