In: Economics
Why is it important for Card's analysis that the Castro's decision to allow Cubans to go freely to the United States was largely unexpected?
Briefly explain how David Card used the Mariel Boatlift to study the effect of immigration on native wages. What was his main finding
David Card, An Economist at UC Berkeley explained the effect of
immigration on native wages in his research paper “The Impact of
the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market,” published in
1990.During April,1980 to October,1980 a mass emigration of Cubans
fro Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States have taken
place .This increased the Labour Supply by 7 percent. David Card
have taken the data of this emigration from US Censes Bureau's
Current Population Survey. Wages of individuals in the Miami
metropolitan area for each year was calculated .According to their
race and demographics . He then compared Miami's wages and
employment levels with four metropolitan areas :Atlanta ,Los
Angels,Houston,and Tampa. the results of White,Black, and non Cuban
Hispanics shown that wages and employment of Miami and other cities
are similar during the eimmigrationn period. This clearly says that
Mariel Boatlift did not negatively impact whites,blacks,or
non-cuban Hispanics in Miami.David Card Study concludes that
immigration did not affect the wages and employment in Miami .
Immigrants are low skilled labour and this did not affect the
overall labour market . Castro's decision to allow cubans go freely
to US have given the opportunity to study about the effects of
immigration in labour market .