Dissertation Defense: Meixi Wan
Candidate: Meixi Wan
Major: Economics
Advisor: Anna Maria Mayda, Ph.D.
A Hidden Economic Growth Engine? The Impact of Second-Generation Immigrants in the U.S.
This project studies the causal impact of second-generation immigrants (US-born with at least one foreign-born parent) in the United States on real per worker GDP using county-level data from 2001 to 2021. My analysis shows that an increase in the second-generation immigrant shares on average increases real per-worker GDP. First-generation immigrants, on the other hand, do not have a significant impact on GDP. The GDP effect of second-generation immigrants varies depending on their skill levels. The high-skilled second-generation immigrants have their impact driven by STEM workers’ contribution to technological innovation, while the low-skilled group’s influence on local growth is strengthened in counties with more college-graduated non-second-generation workers. These patterns that I observe also vary for high- and low-skilled second-generation immigrants from different countries of origin.