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Do Interest Groups Affect US Immigration Policy?

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Author Info
Facchini, Giovanni
Mayda, Anna Maria
Mishra, Prachi

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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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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

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