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Do Interest Groups Affect US Immigration Policy?

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  • Facchini, Giovanni
  • Mayda, Anna Maria
  • Mishra, Prachi

Abstract

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 labour unions are more important.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 6898.

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Date of creation: Jul 2008
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6898

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Keywords: Immigration; Immigration Policy; Interest Groups; Political Economy;

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Cited by:
  1. Ludema, Rodney D & Mayda, Anna Maria & Mishra, Prachi, 2010. "Protection for Free? The Political Economy of U.S. Tariff Suspensions," CEPR Discussion Papers 7926, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Simon Guidecoq & Michel Rocca, 2010. "Réforme "Obama" de la politique d'immigration et pronostics des théories économiques : les influences de la majorité politique et de la conjoncture économique," Post-Print halshs-00560088, HAL.
  3. Facchini, Giovanni & Mayda, Anna Maria, 2009. "The Political Economy of Immigration Policy," MPRA Paper 19179, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  4. Mo, Pak Hung, 2011. "International Human Trafficking: Theory and Solution," MPRA Paper 35104, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Nov 2011.
  5. Deniz Igan & Prachi Mishra & Thierry Tressel, 2011. "A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis," NBER Working Papers 17076, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Brücker, Herbert & Schröder, Philipp J.H., 2010. "Migration Regulation Contagion," Working Papers 10-22, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
  7. Carl Lin, 2011. "Give me your wired and your highly skilled: measuring the impact of immigration policy on employers and shareholders," Working Papers 2011/17, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
  8. Giovanni Facchini & Anna Maria Mayda & Mariapia Mendola, 2011. "What Drives Individual Attitude towards Immigration in South Africa?," Development Working Papers 325, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 27 Dec 2011.
  9. David Newbery, 2009. "Predicting Market Power in Wholesale Electricity Markets," RSCAS Working Papers 2009/03, European University Institute.
  10. William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln & Prachi Mishra, 2011. "The Dynamics of Firm Lobbying," NBER Working Papers 17577, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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