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IMMIGRATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS: CAN HIGH IMMIGRANT FERTILITY EXPLAIN VOTER SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRATION?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2017

Henning Bohn  and
Armando R. Lopez-Velasco
Henning Bohn
Affiliation:
University of California Santa Barbara
Armando R. Lopez-Velasco*
Affiliation:
Texas Tech University
*
Address correspondence to: Armando R. Lopez-Velasco, Department of Economics, Texas Tech University, PO Box 41014, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; e-mail: ar.lopez@ttu.edu.
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Abstract

First generation immigrants to the United States have higher fertility rates than natives. This paper analyzes to what extent this factor provides political support for immigration, using an overlapping generation model with production and capital accumulation. In this setting, immigration represents a dynamic trade-off for native workers as more immigrants decrease current wages but increase the future return on their savings. We find that immigrant fertility has surprisingly strong effects on voter incentives, especially when there is persistence in the political process. If fertility rates are sufficiently high, native workers support immigration. Persistence, either due to inertia induced by frictions in the legal system or through expectational linkages, significantly magnifies the effects. Entry of immigrants with high fertility has redistributive impacts across generations similar to pay-as-you-go social security: initial generations are net winners, whereas later generations are net losers.

Keywords

ImmigrationPolitical Economy ModelOverlapping GenerationsImmigrant Fertility RatesIntergenerational Redistribution
Type
Articles
Information
Macroeconomic Dynamics , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , July 2019 , pp. 1815 - 1837
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

We thank the editor William A. Barnett and two anonymous referees for valuable comments.

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