4 ms·
The lower price of (presumably illegal) immigrant labor has a structural difference - the idea is that both worker and employer are taking a risk by doing a tra
by theorique 13y ago
The lower price of (presumably illegal) immigrant labor has a structural difference - the idea is that both worker and employer are taking a risk by doing a transaction off the books.
However, the employer has greater leverage because he can report the illegal to USCIS, whereas the illegal worker presumably has a precarious financial and social situation in the country and has to "take what he can get". Hence, there's a downward pressure on wages.
- bjourne 13y agoWhether they are legal or illegal immigrants is irrelevant to the argument presented. The market should identify a "business opportunity" and push salaries upwards to an equilibrium.
- theorique 13y agoI think we're agreeing with each other. There's no pure, efficient, "labor market" but instead lots of small, loosely connected "labor markets" with a variety of inefficiencies - lock-in, friction, imperfect information. An employer can exploit illegal immigrant labor because it tends to be concentrated in lower-skilled, relatively interchangeable jobs, and because illegal immigrants are in a difficult spot.