Giovanni Peri (University of California, Davis) recently discussed the economics of immigration with the executive editor of Econofact, Michael Klein, in an episode of the Econofact podcast. Peri is co-editor of the RSF journal issue “New Immigrant Labor Market Niches.”
Peri began the podcast by providing facts about immigrant workers in the United States: there are currently 37 million working-aged immigrants in the U.S., making up around 18% of working-aged residents. These immigrants are increasingly coming from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Philippines. Klein and Peri discussed some of Peri’s recent findings with his student, Reem Zaiour. Peri and Zaiour found that due to immigration restrictions during the Trump administration and the immigration ban in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. now has two million fewer immigrants than they would if trends had continued prior to the Trump administration. The loss of these workers is being felt acutely now during the Great Resignation. Sectors such as food preparation and hospitality services are seeing worker shortages and it would typically be low skilled immigrants – those with a high school degree or less – who would fill those roles. On the other hand, about half of highly skilled immigrants – those with a college degree or more – are employed in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and help drive scientific and technological innovation.
Peri debunked the common argument that foreign-born workers are displacing US workers. He asserted that wage and employment stagnation is due primarily to automation, specifically computerization and information and communication technology, replacing mid to low wage workers. In addition, the skills of highly skilled foreign-born workers tend to complement those of highly skilled native-born workers.
Peri concluded by emphasizing that immigrants are not just workers, but consumers, a fact often overlooked in discussions about immigration’s impact on the economy. The podcast features an illuminating discussion of the variety of contributions immigrants make to American economy.
Giovanni Peri is Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis and the Founder and Director of the UC Davis Global Migration Center. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His research focuses on labor economics, urban economics, and the economics of international migrations. In addition to editing the above mentioned journal issue, he is a member of the editorial board for the RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, a contributing author to the RSF book Immigration, Poverty, and Socioeconomic Inequality, and the recipient of multiple RSF research grants.
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