Initiative

Labor Markets Initiative

This concluded initiative, launched amid the Great Recession, produced detailed recommendations on ways to make U.S. immigration policy a more effective tool for economic growth.
Initiative

The U.S. Immigration Policy Program's Labor Markets Initiative, active from 2009-2013, produced detailed policy recommendations on how the United States should rethink its immigration policy in the light of what is known about the economic impact of immigration—bearing in mind the current context of economic crisis, growing income inequality, concerns about the effect of globalization on U.S. competitiveness, the competition for highly skilled migrants, and demographic and technological change.

The Initiative's work was guided by a group of leading experts in labor economics, welfare policy, and immigration:

Frank D. Bean, Chancellor’s Professor and Director, Center for Research on Immigration, Population and Public Policy, University of California – Irvine; Rebecca M. Blank, Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, U.S. Department of Commerce; Jeanne Butterfield, Senior Counsel, The Raben Group and former Executive Director, American Immigration Lawyers Association; Maria Echaveste, Co-Founder and Partner, Nueva Vista Group and former Deputy Chief of Staff for President Clinton; Jennifer Gordon, Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law; Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics and Director, Center on Pacific Economies, University of California, San Diego, and Co-Editor, Journal of Development Economics; Harry J. Holzer, Professor, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute, and former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Labor; Gerald D. Jaynes, Professor of Economics, Professor of African-American Studies, and Director of Studies in African American Studies, Yale University; Joseph J. Minarik, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Committee for Economic Development, and former Policy Director and Chief Economist for the House Budget Committee; Pia M. Orrenius, Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Esther Olavarria, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Giovanni Peri, Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, Davis; Mark C. Regets, Economist and Senior Analyst, National Science Foundation Division of Science Resources Studies; William M. Rodgers III, Chief Economist, Heldrich Center for Workforce Development; Frank Sharry, Executive Director, America's Voice, and former Executive Director, National Immigration Forum; and Chad Stone, Chief Economist, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Note: Members of the Labor Markets Advisory Group acted in an advisory capacity only. The content of publications issued by the Labor Markets Initiative remains the sole responsibility of the authors. 

Showing 1–10 of 18 results

Steps to Fix the U.S. Immigration System: What Can the Administration Do?

MPI report release with authors MPI's Donald Kerwin, Margie McHugh, and Doris Meissner who engage in a discussion with Eva Millona, Executive Director, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; and Juan P. Osuna, Acting Director, Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice, on what the U.S. administration can do to fix immigration policy absent congressional action.

Does Low-Skilled Immigration Hurt the U.S. Economy? Assessing the Evidence

Report release and discussion on the impacts of low-skilled immigration on the U.S. economy, with author Harry Holzer, Professor, Georgetown Public Policy Institute; Darrell M. West, Vice President and Director of Governance Studies, and Founding Director, Center for Technology Innovation, Brookings Institution; and MPI's Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, and Michael Fix.