TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mazzolari,Francesca
AU  - Neumark,David
TI  - Immigration and Product Diversity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14900
PY  - 2009
Y2  - April 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14900
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14900.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Francesca Mazzolari
Department of Economics
UCI
3151 Social Science Plaza
Irvine, CA 92697
E-Mail: fmazzola@uci.edu

David Neumark
Department of Economics
University of California at Irvine
3151 Social Science Plaza
Irvine, CA  92697
Tel: 949-824-8496
Fax: 949/824-2182
E-Mail: dneumark@uci.edu
AB  - We study the effects of immigration on the diversity of consumption choices. Data from California in the 1990s indicate that immigration is associated with fewer stand-alone retail stores, and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers – evidence that likely contradicts a diversity-enhancing effect of immigration. In contrast, focusing on the restaurant sector for which we can better identify the types of products consumed by customers, we find that immigration is associated with increased ethnic diversity of restaurants. This latter effect appears to come in part from the comparative advantage of immigrants in the production of ethnic goods.
ER  -