The impact of the Johnson–Reed Act on Filipino labor market outcomes

Immigration restrictions to the U.S. are rather modern policies. One of the most significant policy changes, the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, drastically limited the number of new immigrants per year, especially from Asia. In combination with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, immigration per country was capped at 2 percent of the respective population in the 1890 census. In this presentation, I examine to what extent exemptions from immigration restrictions affected relative labor market outcomes of prior migration cohorts. Using decennial census data, I apply a difference-in-differences estimation, considering that restrictions initially did not apply to the Philippines, then a U.S. territory. My findings indicate that initial immigration restrictions impacted Filipinos, who were exempt from the policy, more severely, highlighting the impact of competition on their economic assimilation. In comparison with other migrants, relative log occupational income scores of Filipinos declined, while their labor force participation and employment status increased. These findings corroborate previous studies that emphasize the relevance of substitutability within and the vulnerability across immigrant cohorts. The effects are particularly strong for the year of 1930 and in California, which coincides with the timing of immigration policies and Filipinos' main destination. Individual panel-data analysis partially supports the findings in the cross-sectional evaluation.