Immigration,Diversity and Economic Growth: Evidence From U.S. States

The literature of immigration has been examined the impacts of immigration on the labor market outcomes, consumer goods, and the formation of jurisdictions. Part of the literature stresses on the policy recommendations on how to deal with immigration in general. This thesis aims to add this extant literature by investigating empirically the impact of immigration on the long run growth of a country. Specifically, the thesis examines the impact of diversity on long run economic growth rate of forty eight states in the United States by using historical data on immigration and income since the second half of 19th century. Initial analysis show that there is a negative relationship between the per capita income growth and immigration using both variables. In the further analysis, on the other hand, the results indicate the positive relationship between the per capita income growth and initial level of immigration.M.S.Committee Chair: Dr.Rehim Kilic; Committee Member: Dr.Maurizio Iacopetta; Committee Member: Dr.Willie J. Belton,Jr