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Contributions of Immigrant Farmworkers to California Vegetable Production

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  • Devadoss, Stephen
  • Luckstead, Jeff

Abstract

A major concern with immigrants coming into the United States is that they adversely affect domestic workers through job competition and wage depression. We study the displacement and wage reduction effects of immigrants in California vegetable production, which is labor intensive, and 95% of the farmworkers in California are immigrants. Our findings show that this concern is not valid in vegetable production because the addition of one new immigrant displaces only 0.0123 domestic workers, and wage reduction is inconsequential. But one immigrant worker increases the vegetable production by $23,457 and augments the productivity of skilled workers, material inputs, and capital by $11,729.

Suggested Citation

  • Devadoss, Stephen & Luckstead, Jeff, 2008. "Contributions of Immigrant Farmworkers to California Vegetable Production," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(3), pages 879-894, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jagaec:v:40:y:2008:i:03:p:879-894_00
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Butcher, Kristin F & Card, David, 1991. "Immigration and Wages: Evidence from the 1980's," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 292-296, May.
    2. Rachel M. Friedberg, 2001. "The Impact of Mass Migration on the Israeli Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(4), pages 1373-1408.
    3. Sills, Erin O. & Alwang, Jeffrey & Driscoll, Paul, 1994. "Migrant Farm Workers on Virginia's Eastern Shore: An Analysis of Economic Impacts," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 209-223, July.
    4. Rosenberg, Howard R., 1988. "Emerging Outcomes in California Agriculture from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986," Agricultural Issues Center (AIC) Working Papers 291328, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael A. Clemens & Ethan G. Lewis & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Immigration Restrictions as Active Labor Market Policy: Evidence from the Mexican Bracero Exclusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1468-1487, June.
    2. Nikolaj Malchow-Møller & Jakob Roland Munch & Claus Aastrup Seidelin & Jan Rose Skaksen, 2013. "Immigrant Workers and Farm Performance: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(4), pages 819-841.
    3. Luckstead, Jeff & Devadoss, Stephen & Rodriguez, Abelardo, 2012. "The Effects of NAFTA and U.S. Farm Policies on Illegal Immigration and Agricultural Trade," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 44(1), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Devadoss, Stephen & Luckstead, Jeff, 2017. "Immigration Policies and Farm Labor," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258435, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Baldoni, Edoardo & Coderoni, Silvia & Esposti, Roberto, 2018. "Immigrant workforce and labour productivity in Italian agriculture: a farm-level analysis," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 6(3), May.
    6. Zahniser, Steven & Hertz, Thomas & Rimmer, Maureen T. & Dixon, Peter B., 2012. "The Potential Impact of Changes in Immigration Policy on U.S. Agriculture and the Market for Hired Farm Labor: A Simulation Analysis," Economic Research Report 262231, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Federico Antonioli & Simone Severini & Mauro Vigani, 2023. "Visa for competitiveness: foreign workforce and Italian dairy farms’ performance," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(1), pages 115-150.
    8. Rodgers, Aaron D. & Harri, Ardian & Morgan, Kimberly & Tack, Jesse & Hood, Ken & Coble, Keith, 2014. "Determining Willingness to Adopt Mechanical Harvesters among Southeastern Blueberry Producers," 2014 Annual Meeting, February 1-4, 2014, Dallas, Texas 162529, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    9. Clemens, Michael A., 2017. "The Effect of Occupational Visas on Native Employment: Evidence from Labor Supply to Farm Jobs in the Great Recession," IZA Discussion Papers 10492, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Tianyuan Luo & Genti Kostandini, 2022. "Stringent immigration enforcement and responses of the immigrant‐intensive sector: Evidence from E‐Verify adoption in Arizona," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(4), pages 1411-1434, August.
    11. Richards, Timothy J., 2018. "Immigration Reform and Farm Labor Markets," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274165, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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