Travail de recherche/Working paper
| Résumé : | Did recent technological change shape immigration policy in the United States? I argue that as automation shifted employment from routine to manual occupations, it increased competition between natives and immigrants. In turn, this lead to a more restrictive US immigration policy. I provide empirical evidence for this by analyzing voting on low-skill immigration bills in the House of Representatives. Policy makers representing congressional districts with a higher share of manual employment and those exposed to manual-biased technological change are more likely to support restricting low-skill immigration. Additional results on the effect of (i) immigration on wages, (ii) voter’s attitudes on low-skill immigration, and (iii) political polarization complete the analysis. I do not find a corresponding effect of technological change on trade policy consistent with the highlighted mechanism. |
