Labor Market Competition and Individual Preferences over Immigration Policy

Kenneth F. Scheve and Matthew J. Slaughter conducted an analysis of the determinants of individual preferences over immigration policy in the United States. The analysis produced two main empirical results: 1) less-skilled workers are more likely to prefer limiting immigrant inflows into the US, believing that the immigrant inflows drive down wages; 2) there is no evidence indicating that skills and immigration opinions are more strongly correlated in high-immigration communities.