IMMIGRANT QUALITY AND ASSIMILATION - A REVIEW OF THE US LITERATURE

Empirical research on US immigrants is reviewed: their productivity an d assimilation; their contribution and use of public services; and the ir impact on native Americans. I discuss the characteristics of cohort s of immigrants that enter the United States at different times, and t hen quantify the assimilation of immigrants, typically in terms of eco nomic productivity of immigrants compared with natives. Few have found quantifiable negative effects of immigrants on native wages or unempl oyment in local labor markets, but a more general equilibrium approach than has been empirically implemented may be needed to draw any concl usions regarding the distributional consequences of immigration.