Do Firms Respond to Immigration?

Research generally focuses on how immigration a€ects native workers, while the impact of immigration on domestic .rms is often overlooked. This paper addresses this important omission by examining whether .rms respond to immigration by adjusting the location of their production activities. The results indicate that .rms respond to immigration at the extensive margin by increasing the number of establish- ments and at the intensive margin by increasing the size of existing establishments. This is an important .nding because .rm mobility can explain the insigni.cant im- pact of immigration on wages found using regional data but the negative impact found using national level data. Additional evidence indicates that these results are not driven by immigrants simply consuming more goods and services.immigration, firm structure, establishment births & deaths

Offshoring, Immigration, and the Native Wage Distribution

While workers in developed countries have become increasingly concerned about the impact that offshoring and immigration have on their wages, the available evidence remains mixed. This paper presents a simple model that examines the impact offshoring and immigration on wages and tests these predictions using U.S. state-industry-year panel data. According to the model, the productivity effect causes offshoring to have a more positive impact on low-skilled wages than immigration, but this gap decreases with the workers. skill level. The empirical results confirm both of these predictions and thus present direct evidence of the productivity effect. Furthermore, the results provide important insight into how specific components of o€shoring and immigration affect the wages of particular types of native workers.offshoring, outsourcing, immigration, productivity effect, native wages

Remittances and the Wage Impact of Immigration

This paper is the first to examine the impact of immigrant remittances on the wages of native workers in the host country. The model shows that the effect of immigration on wages depends on the ratio of an immigration-induced change in the consumer base relative to an immigration-induced change in the workforce. Remittances provide a unique way of identifying changes in this ratio since they reduce the consumer base but not the workforce. The model is then tested using an unusual data set that follows the same individuals over time and has detailed information on remittances. Consistent with the prediction of the model, the results indicate that remittances depress the wages of native workers, especially those in non-traded industries.Remittances; Immigration; Wages

Globalization and Investment in Human Capital

Workers are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact that globaliza- tion has on their domestic labor market. While existing research typically focuses on the effects on labor market outcomes such as wages and employment, we examine whether American workers respond to globalization by increasing their investment in human capital. Specifically, we measure the extent to which offshoring and immigra- tion affect enrollment at institutions of higher education. The results indicate that both offshoring and immigration increase enrollment at community colleges, particu- larly among older students. We conclude that workers in the U.S. are responding to offshoring and immigration by acquiring the skills necessary to compete in a global economy.globalization, higher education, enrollment, offshoring, immigration

A Race to the Bottom? Employment Protection and Foreign Direct Investment

A common critique of globalization is that it leads to a race to the bottom. This hypothesis assumes that multinationals invest in countries with lower regulatory standards and that countries competitively undercut each other's standards in response. This paper finds empirical evidence of both propositions. First, a reduction in employment protection rules leads to an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI). Not surprisingly, changes in employment protection legislation have a larger impact on the relatively mobile types of FDI. Second, there is evidence that countries are competitively undercutting each other's labor market standards.foreign direct investment; employment protection; race to the bottom

Selective Alterations of Opiate Receptor Subtypes in Mono sodium Glutamate-Treated Rats

Neonatal treatment of rats with monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been demonstrated to destroy cell bodies of neurons in the arcuate nucleus including the brain beta-endorphin (B-END) system. The effects on opiate receptors of the loss of B-END is unknown. Neonatal rats were treated with MSG as previously described. After reaching maturity (7-9 months), MSG-treated rats and litter-matched untreated control rats were decapitated and brains dissected into brain regions. Opiate receptor assays were run with [ 3 H]morphine (mu receptor ligand) and [ 3 H]D-alanine 2 -D-leucine 5 (DADL) enkephalin (delta receptor ligand) for each brain region for both MSG and control rats simultaneously. Scatchard plot analyses showed a selective increase in delta receptors in the thala-mus only. No corresponding change in mu receptors in the thalamus was found. The cross-competition IC 50 data supported this conclusion, showing a loss in the potency of morphine in displacing [ 3 H]DADL enkephalin in the thalamus of MSG-treated rats. This shift in delta receptors produced an IC 50 displacement pattern in thalamus, ordinarily a mu-rich area, similar to that of striatum or cortex, delta-rich areas, again indicating an increase in delta receptors. Similar changes in delta receptors in other brain regions were not found. These results represent one of the few examples of a selective and localized shift in delta with no change in mu sites. Furthermore, the delta increase may reflect an up-regulation of the receptors in thalamus after chronic loss of the endogenous opioid B-END.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65552/1/j.1471-4159.1983.tb08126.x.pd

A race to the bottom? Employment protection and foreign direct investment

Abstract A common critique of globalization is that it leads to a race to the bottom. Specifically, it is assumed that multinationals invest in countries with lower regulatory standards and that countries competitively undercut each other's standards in response. This paper tests this hypothesis and finds empirical support for both propositions. First, a reduction in employment protection rules leads to an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI)

Enhancement of spin-to-charge conversion of diamond NV centers at ambient conditions using surface electrodes

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a heavily studied defect due to its potential applications to quantum metrology and computation, particularly in ambient conditions. The key mechanism to using the NV in any application lies in the ability to read out the spin state of the defect which is typically done optically. The optical contrast is then the key metric for electron spin readout fidelity and one of the key limiting factors in the NV's overall performance. We present a new mechanism for high contrast readout using the spin-to-charge conversion (SCC) mechanism in conjunction with an electrode to improve the spin contrast by altering the NV energy levels relative to the diamond conduction band. Theoretical modelling predicts an optical spin contrast at 42% which would be the highest optical contrast for the NV at room temperature and the technique opens up a range of alternative research pathways for the NV which are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures + 4 pages and 3 figures in the appendi

Role of material properties and mesostructure on dynamic deformation and shear instability in Al-W granular composites

Dynamic experiments with Al-W granular/porous composites revealed qualitatively different behavior with respect to shear localization depending on bonding between Al particles. Two-dimensional numerical modeling was used to explore the mesomechanics of the large strain dynamic deformation in Al-W granular/porous composites and explain the experimentally observed differences in shear localization between composites with various mesostructures. Specifically, the bonding between the Al particles, the porosity, the roles of the relative particle sizes of Al and W, the arrangements of the W particles, and the material properties of Al were investigated using numerical calculations. It was demonstrated in simulations that the bonding between the "soft" Al particles facilitated shear localization as seen in the experiments. Numerical calculations and experiments revealed that the mechanism of the shear localization in granular composites is mainly due to the local high strain flow of "soft" Al around the "rigid" W particles causing localized damage accumulation and subsequent growth of the meso/macro shear bands/cracks. The "rigid" W particles were the major geometrical factor determining the initiation and propagation of "kinked" shear bands in the matrix of "soft" Al particles, leaving some areas free of extensive plastic deformation as observed in experiments and numerical calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Journal of Applied Physic