22.1 Which of the following statements are true? Which are false? Explain why the false statements are untrue.a. More immigrants arrive to the United States each year illegally than legally.b. The majority of legal immigrants are men.c. Over half the new legal immigrants to the United States each year are from Mexico.d. Most legal immigrants to the United States gain their legal status through employment-based preferences.
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22.2 In
what respect is the economic decision to move across international
borders an investment decision? Why do economic migrants move to some
countries, but not to others? Cite an example of an explicit cost of
moving; an implicit cost of moving. How do distance and age affect the
migration decision? How does the presence of a large number of previous
movers to a country affect the projected costs and benefits of
subsequent movers?
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22.3 Suppose
that the projected lifetime earnings gains from migration exceed the
costs of moving. Explain how the decision to move might be reversed when
a person considers present value.
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22.4
Use
the accompanying tables for Neon and Zeon to answer the questions that
follow. Assume that the wage rate shown equals hourly output and income,
and that the accumulated output and income are the sum of the marginal
revenue products (MRPs) of each worker....a. Which country has the
greater stock of capital and technological prowess? How can you tell?
b.
Suppose the equilibrium wage rate is $19 in Neon and $7 in Zeon. What
is the domestic output (= domestic income) in the two countries?
c.
Assuming zero migration costs and initial wage rates of $19 in Neon and
$7 in Zeon, how many workers will move to Neon? Why will not more than
that number of workers move to Neon?d. After the move of workers,
what will the equilibrium wage rate be in each country? What will the
domestic output be after the migration? What is the amount of the
combined gain in domestic output produced by the migration? Which
country will gain output; which will lose output? How will the income of
native-born workers be affected in each country?
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22.5 How might the output and income gains from immigration shown by the simple immigration model be affected by (a) unemployment in the originating nation, (b) remittances by immigrants to the home country, and (c) backflows of migrants to the home country?
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22.6 Suppose
initially that immigrant labor and native-born labor are complementary
resources. Explain how a substantial immigration might change the demand
for native-born workers, altering their wages. (Review the relevant
portion of Chapter 12 if necessary to help answer this question.) Next,
suppose that new immigrant labor and previous immigrant labor (not
native-born) are substitute resources. Explain how a substantial
immigration of new workers might affect the demand for previous
immigrants, altering their wages.
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22.7 What
is a “brain drain” as it relates to international migration? If
emigrants are highly educated and received greatly subsidized education
in the home country, is there any justification for that country to levy
a “brain drain” tax on them? Do you see any problems with this idea?
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22.8 In July 2007 The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
reported that a growing shortage of skilled labor in Eastern European
countries such as Slovakia was driving up wages in key industries and
reducing business income. The reason for the shortages was a large
migration of skilled Eastern European workers to Western European
countries. Use the simple immigration model to demonstrate the key
elements of the WSF story as just described.
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22.9 Why is each of these statements somewhat misleading? (a) “Illegal immigrants take only jobs that no American wants."(b) “Deporting 100,000 illegal immigrants would create 100,000 job openings for Americans.”
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22.10 Why
are so many state and local governments greatly concerned about the
Federal government's allegedly lax enforcement of the immigration laws
and congressional proposals to grant legal status (amnesty) to the 11
million illegal immigrants in the United States? How might an amnesty
program affect the flow of future border crossings?
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22.11 If
someone favors the free movement of labor within the United States, is
it inconsistent for that person to also favor restrictions on the
international movement of labor? Why or why not?
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22.12 LAST WORD
What were the five main features of the proposed immigration reform of
2007? Which of these features, as general principles, do you support?
Which do you oppose? Explain your reasoning.
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