The impact of immigrants on host country wages, employment and growth

Immigration is a contentious issue in the industrialized nations of the world. This is true not merely in traditional receiving countries, such as the United States, Canada and Australia, but in recent decades also in Europe, which historically experienced net emigration. The country composition of immigration to the United States has changed greatly over time, partly due to the dramatic change in entry policy brought about by the Immigration and Nationality Act amendments of 1965, which abolished the national origins quota system in place since the 1920s. Theoretical predictions of the impact of immigration on the wages of natives depend upon the model used. Many of the key issues in the debate on immigration policy are economic. The connection between immigration and growth is likely to depend upon the circumstances of the receiving economy and the characteristics of the immigrant inflow.