TY  - JOUR
AU  - Borjas,George J.
AU  - Katz,Lawrence F.
TI  - The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11281
PY  - 2005
Y2  - April 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11281
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11281.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
George J. Borjas
Harvard Kennedy School
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-1393
Fax: 617/495-9532
E-Mail: gborjas@harvard.edu

Lawrence F. Katz
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/495-5148
Fax: 617/613-1245
E-Mail: lkatz@harvard.edu
M1  - published as George J. Borjas, Lawrence F. Katz. "The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States ," in George J. Borjas, editor, "Mexican Immigration to the United States" University of Chicago Press (2007)

M2  - featured in NBER digest on 2005-12-01
AB  - This paper examines the evolution of the Mexican-born workforce in the United States using data drawn from the decennial U.S. Census throughout the entire 20th century. It is well known that there has been a rapid rise in Mexican immigration to the United States in recent years. Interestingly, the share of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. workforce declined steadily beginning in the 1920s before beginning to rise in the 1960s. It was not until 1980 that the relative number of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. workforce was at the 1920 level. The paper examines the trends in the relative skills and economic performance of Mexican immigrants, and contrasts this evolution with that experienced by other immigrants arriving in the United States during the period. The paper also examines the costs and benefits of this influx by examining how the Mexican influx has altered economic opportunities in the most affected labor markets and by discussing how the relative prices of goods and services produced by Mexican immigrants may have changed over time.
ER  -