Publication

This report argues that economists have measured the effects of immigration on native employment primarily with external shifts in the foreign labor supply curve. Here, the author suggests an alternative, occupation-specific approach. This would involve directly describing the native labor supply curve. The author applies this method to seasonal farm work in North Carolina and estimates that one US job across all sectors of the North Carolina economy is created by 1.5–2.3 foreign seasonal farm workers in the short term, and 3.0–4.6 foreign seasonal farm workers in the long run.