The postwar period witnessed major changes in U.S. immigration policy and in economic and political conditions in many of the source countries. As a result, the size, origin, and skill composition of immigrant flows changed substantially. This paper uses the Public Use Samples of the five decennial Census between 1940 and 1980 to document the extent of these changes. The empirical analysis yields two substantive results. First, almost all of the measures of skills or labor market success available in the data document a steady deterioration in the skills and labor market performance of successive immigrants waves over the postwar period, with this trend accelerating since 1960. Second, the study suggests that a single factor, the changing national origin mix of the immigrant flow, is almost entirely responsible for this trend.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
3575.
Length: Date of creation: Jan 1991 Date of revision: Publication status: published relationship to a non-chapter. This should not happen. Please contact NBER. Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3575
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George J. Borjas, 2000.
"The Economic Progress of Immigrants,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Issues in the Economics of Immigration, pages 15-50
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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