Immigration and Worker Displacement from High-Immigration Industries: Evidence Using Longitudinal Data from the LEHD

Ted Mouw, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jennie E. Brand, University of California, Los Angeles
Benjamin Jarvis, University of California, Los Angeles

Are native workers “displaced” when the proportion of immigrant workers in their industry increases rapidly? To answer this question, we use data from the Longitudinal Employer Household Data (LEHD) on over 90 million workers from 30 states to identify 70 4-digit industries with the largest increase in immigrant density between 1995 and 2008. Using this data, we observe the earnings and employment outcomes for native workers in these high-immigration industries. To provide a control group for these workers, we match them to similar workers by gender, age, broad 2-digit industry, state, year, and initial wage quintile. We analyze the wage trajectories of native workers in these industries compared to workers in the control group. Finally, we analyze the wage changes of workers who are displaced due to plant closure, comparing the relative impact on workers in high-immigration industries versus a sample of displaced workers in general.