Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/116565
Family reunification or point-based immigration system? the case of the U.S. and Mexico
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While the immigration policy in the U.S. is mainly oriented to family reunification, in Australia, Canada and the U.K. it is a points-based immigration system which main objective is to attract high skilled immigrants. This paper compares both immigration policies through the transition for the U.S. and Mexico. I find that: (i) The point system increases the average years of the immigrants by 3.5 years. (ii) The Mexican immigrants suffer a 10% reduction in their effective hours of labor when they move to the U.S. (iii) Migration reduces inequality, more significantly if the immigration policy is the point system and increases output per capita differences between both countries. (iv) The offspring of the immigrants invest more in human capital than the U.S. natives. (v). The earnings ratio immigrants to the U.S. natives is lower under the quota system than under the point system but along the transition it reverses converging at the steady state.
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LÓPEZ REAL, Joel. Family reunification or point-based immigration system? the case of the U.S. and Mexico. IEB Working Paper 2011/19. [consulted: 8 of October of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/116565