Do Interest Groups Affect U.S. Immigration Policy?

Author/Editor:

Prachi Mishra ; Giovanni Facchini ; Anna Maria Mayda

Publication Date:

October 1, 2008

Electronic Access:

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Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

While anecdotal evidence suggests that interest groups play a key role in shaping immigration policy, there is no systematic empirical analysis of this issue. In this paper, we construct an industry-level dataset for the United States, by combining information on the number of temporary work visas with data on lobbying activity 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 interest groups incur larger lobby expenditures and higher in sectors where labor unions are more important.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2008/244

Subject:

Expenditure Labor Labor unions Migration Unemployment rate

English

Publication Date:

October 1, 2008

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451871029/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA2008244

Pages:

56

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