J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

• Immigration and US Shelter Prices: The Role of Geographical and Immigrant Heterogeneity

  Staff Working Paper 2024-40 James Cabral, Walter Steingress

  The arrival of immigrants increases demand for housing and puts upward pressure on shelter prices. Using instrumental variables based on the ancestry composition of residents in US counties, we estimate the causal impact of immigration on local shelter prices.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Housing, Inflation and prices, International topics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J6, J61, R, R2, R23, R3, R31

• Third-Country Effects of U.S. Immigration Policy

  Staff Working Paper 2023-60 Agostina Brinatti, Xing Guo

  We study how the tightening of US immigration policy affects the Canadian economy and American workers. After the reduction in H-1B visa admissions in 2017, more immigrants came to Canada, and Canadian firms expanded their employment, sales and exports. The close trade link between the United States and Canada dampens the benefit American workers derive from this policy change.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics, Labour markets, Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F16, F2, F22, J, J6, J61

• Immigration and Provision of Public Goods: Evidence at the Local Level in the U.S.

  Staff Working Paper 2023-57 Anna Maria Mayda, Mine Z. Senses, Walter Steingress

  Using U.S. county-level data from 1990 to 2010, we study the causal impact of immigration on the provision of local public goods. We uncover substantial heterogeneity across immigrants with different skills and immigrants of different generations, which leads to unequal fiscal effects across U.S. counties.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Fiscal policy, International topics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): F, F2, F22, H, H4, H41, H7, J, J6, J61, J68, R, R5

• Local Labor Markets in Canada and the United States

  Staff Working Paper 2019-12 David Albouy, Alex Chernoff, Chandler Lutz, Casey Warman

  We examine local labor markets in the United States and Canada from 1990 to 2011 using comparable household and business data. Wage levels and inequality rise with city population in both countries, albeit less in Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets JEL Code(s): J, J2, J21, J3, J31, J6, J61, N, N3, N32, R, R1, R12

• The Political Impact of Immigration: Evidence from the United States

  Staff Working Paper 2018-19 Anna Maria Mayda, Giovanni Peri, Walter Steingress

  In this paper we study the impact of immigration to the United States on the vote for the Republican Party by analyzing county-level data on election outcomes between 1990 and 2010. Our main contribution is to separate the effect of high-skilled and low-skilled immigrants, by exploiting the different geography and timing of the inflows of these two groups of immigrants.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics, Labour markets JEL Code(s): F, F2, F22, J, J6, J61

• The Causal Impact of Migration on US Trade: Evidence from Political Refugees

  Staff Working Paper 2017-49 Walter Steingress

  Immigrants can increase international trade by shifting preferences towards the goods of their country of origin and by reducing bilateral transaction costs. Using geographical variation across U.S. states for the period 2008 to 2013, I estimate the respective causal impact of immigrants on U.S. exports and imports.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): F, F1, F14, F2, F22, J, J6, J61

• Technology Shocks, Labour Mobility and Aggregate Fluctuations

  Staff Working Paper 2014-4 Daniela Hauser

  We provide evidence regarding the dynamic behaviour of net labour flows across U.S. states in response to a positive technology shock. Technology shocks are identified as disturbances that increase relative state productivity in the long run for 226 state pairs, encompassing 80 per cent of labour flows across U.S. states in the 1976 - 2008 period.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E32, J, J6, J61
• May 16, 2013

  Explaining Canada’s Regional Migration Patterns

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2013 David Amirault, Daniel de Munnik, Sarah Miller

  Understanding the factors that determine the migration of labour between regions is crucial for assessing the economy’s response to macroeconomic shocks and identifying policies that will encourage an efficient reallocation of labour. By examining the determinants of migration within Canada from 1991 to 2006, this article provides evidence that regional differences in employment rates and household incomes tend to increase labour migration, and that provincial borders and language differences are barriers to migration.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Labour markets, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J6, J61, R, R2, R23

• What Drags and Drives Mobility: Explaining Canada’s Aggregate Migration Patterns

  Staff Working Paper 2012-28 David Amirault, Daniel de Munnik, Sarah Miller

  Using census data at the economic region level from 1991 to 2006 and a gravity model framework, this paper examines the factors that influence migration within Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Labour markets, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J6, J61, R, R2, R23