Restricting the hiring of low-skill immigrants hurts firms and does not benefit native-born workers: Evidence from a US visa lottery

Economists disagree about the impact of less-skilled immigration on less-skilled natives’ productivity and employment. This column considers how US firms adjust when they are restricted from hiring foreign workers in low-skill jobs by studying a nationwide lottery that they enter to access the country’s principal low-skill work visa. Firms obliged at random to slash foreign hiring by half produce 18% less and do not increase native hiring. This suggests natives are extremely poor substitutes for foreigners in policy-relevant occupations.

Professor of Economics Dartmouth College

Leave a Comment