Immigrants in a Changing Labor Market: Responding to Economic Needs

This volume, which brings together research by leading economists and labor market specialists, examines the role immigrants play in the U.S. workforce, how they fare in good and bad economic times, and the effects they have on native-born workers and the labor sectors in which they are engaged. The book traces the powerful economic forces at play in today's globalized world and includes policy prescriptions for making the American immigration system more responsive to labor market needs.

Chapters examine employment outcomes for low-skilled, middle-skilled, and high-skilled workers; assess the economic effects of illegal immigration; trace immigrants' trajectories in the construction, health care, hospitality, and information technology sectors; and detail the impact of immigration in recession and economic expansion.

Immigrants in a Changing Labor Market is the product of the Migration Policy Institute's (MPI) Labor Markets Initiative, which provides a comprehensive, policy-focused review of the role of immigration in the labor market. The initiative produces detailed policy recommendations on how the United States should rethink its immigration policy in the light of what is known about the economic impact of immigration—bearing in mind the current context of the economic crisis, growing income inequality, concerns about the effect of globalization on U.S. competitiveness, the competition for highly skilled migrants, and demographic and technological change.

Contributors include: Jeanne Batalova (MPI), Michael Fix (MPI), Gordon H. Hanson (University of California–San Diego), Harry J. Holzer (Georgetown Public Policy Institute), Pia M. Orrenius (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas), Demetrios G. Papademetriou (MPI), Giovanni Peri (University of California–Davis), Madeleine Sumption (MPI), and Madeline Zavodny (Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA))

Michael Fix is senior vice president and director of studies at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). Demetrios G. Papademetriou is the president and cofounder of MPI. Madeleine Sumption is a policy analyst at MPI.