A Macroeconomic Experiment in Mass Immigration

29 Pages Posted: 19 May 2002

See all articles by Zvi Hercowitz

Zvi Hercowitz

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Eran Yashiv

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics; CEP, LSE; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 2002

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of mass immigration from the former USSR to Israel in the 1990s on the employment of the native-born. The exogeneity and the size of this inflow make it a "natural experiment" of macroeconomic proportions. An open-economy macroeconomic model is used to analyze this experience, focusing on the differential entry of immigrants into the labor and goods markets and the ensuing dynamic implications for labor demand. The reduced form of the model consisting of two equations for native employment and the relative price of domestic goods is estimated, finding negative effects of immigration on native employment a year after arrival. The delay in the effect is attributed to a positive impact of immigration on the excess demand for goods and, thus, on the demand for labor earlier on.

Keywords: Immigration, Open Economy, Natives Employment

JEL Classification: E24, F16, J61

Suggested Citation

Hercowitz, Zvi and Yashiv, Eran, A Macroeconomic Experiment in Mass Immigration (April 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=310356 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.310356

Zvi Hercowitz

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 39040
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978
Israel
+972 3 640 9916 (Phone)
+972 3 640 9908 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Eran Yashiv (Contact Author)

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 39040
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978
Israel
+972 3 640 9715 (Phone)
+972 3 640 9908 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.tau.ac.il/~yashiv/

CEP, LSE ( email )

Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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