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More Hands, More Power? Estimating the Impact of Immigration on Output and Technology Choices Using Early 20th Century US Agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Jeanne Lafortune

    (Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.)

  • Jose Tessada
  • Carolina González-Velosa
Abstract
Can shifts in output mix or technologies attenuate the impact of immigration on wages? We explore this using immigration-induced changes in relative labor supply at the county level in US Censuses of Agriculture in early 20th century. An increase in labor supply induced a shift away from capital intensive crops and a reduction in farm size. Crop mix adjustments were more likely in counties less specialized in a given crop while adjustments in technological and organization changes were more marked in the rest. Suggestive evidence indicates that crop mix adjustments, but not organizational changes, were sufficient to limit wage impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeanne Lafortune & Jose Tessada & Carolina González-Velosa, 2013. "More Hands, More Power? Estimating the Impact of Immigration on Output and Technology Choices Using Early 20th Century US Agriculture," Working Papers ClioLab 15, EH Clio Lab. Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
    • Handle: RePEc:ioe:clabwp:15
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    Cited by:

    1. Xie, Bin, 2017. "The Effects of Immigration Quotas on Wages, the Great Black Migration, and Industrial Development," IZA Discussion Papers 11214, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Tianyuan Luo & Genti Kostandini & Jeffrey L. Jordan, 2023. "Stringent immigration enforcement and the farm sector: Evidence from E‐Verify adoption across states," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(2), pages 1211-1232, June.
    3. Lewis, Ethan & Peri, Giovanni, 2015. "Immigration and the Economy of Cities and Regions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 625-685, Elsevier.
    4. Timothy J. Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2024. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850–1940," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 507-535, Springer.
    5. Braun, Sebastian Till & Weber, Henning, 2021. "How do regional labor markets adjust to immigration? A dynamic analysis for post-war Germany," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Michael A. Clemens & Ethan G. Lewis & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Immigration Restrictions as Active Labor Market Policy: Evidence from the Mexican Bracero Exclusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1468-1487, June.
    7. Ager, Philipp & Abramitzky, Ran & Boustan, Leah & Cohen, Elior David & Hansen, Casper Worm, 2019. "The Effects of Immigration on the Economy: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure," CEPR Discussion Papers 14165, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Rotunno, Lorenzo & Wood, Adrian, 2020. "Wage inequality and skill supplies in a globalised world," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 529-547.
    9. David Andersson & Mounir Karadja & Erik Prawitz, 2022. "Mass Migration and Technological Change," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1859-1896.
    10. repec:esx:essedp:752 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Raphaël Franck, 2024. "Labor scarcity, technology adoption and innovation: evidence from the cholera pandemics in 19th century France," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 543-583, December.
    12. Ran Abramitzky & Philipp Ager & Leah Boustan & Elior Cohen & Casper Hansen, 2021. "The Effect of Immigration on Local Labor Markets: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure," Research Working Paper RWP 21-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    13. Kuroiwa, Kenichi & Chellattan Veettil, Prakashan & Gupta, Ishika, 2024. "Labor Scarcity and Technology Adoption in Agriculture: Evidence from Rural India during the COVID-19 Pandemic," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343851, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Paul Gaggl & Greg C. Wright, 2017. "A Short-Run View of What Computers Do: Evidence from a UK Tax Incentive," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 262-294, July.
    15. Tianyuan Luo & Genti Kostandini, 2022. "Stringent immigration enforcement and responses of the immigrant‐intensive sector: Evidence from E‐Verify adoption in Arizona," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(4), pages 1411-1434, August.
    16. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, 2022. "Is ICE freezing US agriculture? Farm-level adjustment to increased local immigration enforcement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Pandey, Manish & Ray Chaudhuri, Amrita, 2017. "Immigration-induced effects of changes in size and skill distribution of the labor force on wages in the U.S," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 118-134.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • N51 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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