This report uses data from the most recent decennial censuses to analyze and assess the composition and experience ofimmigrants to Georgia, with special attention paid to the Atlanta metropolitan area, where the majority of the immigrants have settled. FRC Report 17

Douglas J. Krupka

John V. Winters

English

This report uses data from the most recent decennial censuses to analyze and assess the composition and experience ofimmigrants to Georgia, with special attention paid to the Atlanta metropolitan area, where the majority of the immigrants have settled. FRC Brief 17

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  April 2008, Number 175   GEORGIA’S IMMIGRANTS:  PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE   With Atlanta at its center, Georgia has experienced a recent influx of immigrants, from both other parts of the United States and other parts of the world.  This brief uses data from the most recent decennial censuses to analyze and assess the composition and experience of these immigrants to Georgia, with special attention paid to the Atlanta metropolitan area, where the majority of the immigrants have settled.  Atlanta is not very different from other large American cities in terms of its experience with immigration.  The influx of new immigrants is an important component of Atlanta’s and Georgia’s growth and population.  Migrants from other countries make up over ten percent of metropolitan Atlanta’s population, with almost four percent consisting of migrants who have come to the area from other countries within the five years preceding the census.   This brief provides a detailed analysis of the origin of migrants to Georgia and Atlanta, and how those immigration flows changed over the course of the 1990s.  It also assesses the extent to which these immigrants differ from the “native” population in terms of demographics, family structure and education.  Then it turns to an analysis of the economic success of the various immigrant groups in terms of income and other  labor-market indicators such as employment and wage.  Finally, it characterizes and measures the assimilation experience of the various immigrant groups. The findings of this brief can be summarized as follows. 1) Migrants from other U.S. states make up the most important group of in-migrants and make up the vast majority of non-native Georgians and Atlantans.  In Atlanta, in-migrants from outside of Georgia outnumber in-migrants from other parts of Georgia by more than four-to-one and are more than twice the combined in-migration from other parts of Georgia and the rest of the world.   2) Migration is vital to the Atlanta and Georgia economies.  For example, in 2000, less than half of Atlanta’s residents were born anywhere in Georgia, and more than a third of Georgians were born outside Georgia. 3) International immigration is becoming more important in Atlanta.  There was more international immigration to Atlanta in 2000 than migration from other parts of Georgia, although this was not the case in 1990. 4) The largest groups of migrants are Latin Americans, Asians and Europeans, in that order.  Latin American and Asian immigration into Atlanta is increasing the fastest.      5) Across a number of dimensions, immigrants tend to differ from natives, although the extent of the difference depends on the area of origin.  Educational attainment is probably the most important of these differences.  Immigrants from the developed world tend to be more educated, while immigrants from the developing world (especially Latin America and Africa) tend to be less educated. 6) Labor market outcomes and incomes of recent immigrants vary by region of origin.  The economic success of these groups tends to reflect the educational attainment of the migrating group. 7) Recent immigrants do worse than natives across all labor market outcomes, even when we control for individual characteristics through the use of regression analysis.  However, some of these differences appear to be eliminated through the process of assimilation. 8) Controlling for individual characteristics, migrants from areas where recent migrants do the worst also appear to assimilate the least so that initial differences in economic success are persistent.  While assimilation is universal, disparities remain even after lengthy residence in the Atlanta region. While overall growth of the metropolitan region will likely slow somewhat, it will probably continue to be strong, and immigration from outside the United States (as well as from other U.S. states) will continue to be an important driver of local population and economic growth.  Like the past migrants analyzed here, future migrants will vary considerably in regards to education and economic success.  Well-educated immigrants from the developed world and more vulnerable immigrants from the developing world are in some sense “different animals.”  Natives’ feelings about and response to these different groups of migrants will (and to some extent should) vary, as will the needs and effects on the local economy and public finance. Future immigrants will assimilate in a strong way, just as several generations of past immigrants have done in Atlanta and across the country.  Meanwhile, the bi-cultural children of current immigrants will grow up even more assimilated.  The response of local populations to these changes will depend on political, cultural and economic views.  Those who are satisfied with the current immigration context will likely want similar responses to immigration in the future.  Such satisfaction is quite reasonable, given the strong assimilation of past migrants, concurrent economic gains to the Atlanta and Georgia economies and relatively harmonious integration of ethnic communities into the metropolitan fabric.  Although disparities exist across migrant groups, there does not seem to be an immigration “problem” in Georgia or Atlanta.   ABOUT THE AUTHORS Douglas J. Krupka received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago School of Public Policy, where he came for his masters degree in 1997 after graduating from the University of Virginia with majors in History and Music. From 2004 until 2007, he was an assistant professor in the Economics Department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia and he remains a Principal Associate with the Fiscal Research Center at Georgia State University. His primary interests are in Labor and Urban Economics. More specifically, his thesis examined the relationships amongst investments in location-specific human capital, migration, and the attractiveness of different kinds of cities. He joined IZA as a Research Affiliate in January 2004 and became a Research Associate in July 2007. John V. Winters is a research associate in the Fiscal Research Center of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and is currently finishing his Ph.D. in Economics.  His research interests include state and local public finance, urban and regional economics, and the economics of education.  John Winters is from Mississippi and holds a B.A. in economics from Mississippi State University and a M.A. in economics from Georgia State University. FROM THE DIRECTOR This policy brief is one of a series of reports and policy briefs that explores Georgia’s fiscal, economic and demographic features.  The demographic reports will consider many different sub-populations.  The well being of the state depends on the well being of its residents, so it is important to understand the economic and social conditions of population.  The best way to do that is to consider each sub-population. ABOUT FRC The Fiscal Research Center provides nonpartisan research, technical assistance, and education in the evaluation and design the state and local fiscal and economic policy, including both tax and expenditure issues.  The Center’s mission is to promote development of sound public policy and public understanding of issues of concern to state and local governments. The Fiscal Research Center (FRC) was established in 1995 in order to provide a stronger research foundation for setting fiscal policy for state and local governments and for better-informed decision making.  The FRC, one of several prominent policy research centers and academic departments housed in the School of Policy Studies, has a full-time staff and affiliated faculty from throughout Georgia State University and elsewhere who lead the research efforts in many organized projects.    The FRC maintains a position of neutrality on public policy issues in order to safeguard the academic freedom of authors.  Thus, interpretations or conclusions in FRC publications should be understood to be solely those of the author.  For more information on the Fiscal Research Center, call 404-413-0249.  RECENT PUBLICATIONS  Georgia’s Immigrants:  Past, Present, and Future.   This report examines the economic success of immigrants relative to the state’s residents as a whole and speculates on how we might expect immigrant populations to fare in the future.  (April 2008)  Property Tax in Georgia.  This report discusses the structure of the property tax in Georgia and various provisions that make up the structure of the property tax.  (March 2008)  A Targeted Property Tax Relief Program for Georgia.  This report describes how a targeted property tax relief program could be designed and provides estimates of the cost and distribution of program benefits. (February 2008)  A Historical Comparison of Neighboring States with Different Income Tax Regimes (Peter Bluestone)  This report focuses on simple historical differences between states without an income tax and neighbor states with an income tax.  (November 2007)  Replacing All Property Taxes:  An Analysis of Revenue Issues.  This brief discusses the amount of revenue needed to replace all property taxes in Georgia.  (October 2007)  Revenue Estimates for Eliminating Sales Tax Exemptions and Adding Services to the Sales Tax Base.  This report provides revenue estimates for alternative combination of eliminating sales tax exemptions and adding services to the sales tax base. (October 2007)  Report on the City of South Fulton:  Potential Revenue and Expenditures (Revised).  This report evaluates the fiscal consequences of incorporating a new city of South Fulton, using Fulton County revenue and expenditure data and benchmarks from other Georgia cities.  (October 2007)  Report on the City of Chattahoochee Hill Country:  Potential Revenues and Expenditures.  Using Fulton County revenue and expenditure data and benchmarks developed from other Georgia city data, this report evaluates the fiscal consequences of incorporating a new city of Chattahoochee Hill Country.  (October 2007)  Selected Fiscal and Economic Implications of Aging.  This report considers pressures and potential benefits of an increased elderly population in Georgia.  (October 2007)  Subnational Value-Added Taxes:  Options for Georgia.  This report considers the implications of levying a subnational value-added tax in Georgia as a replacement for the state corporate income and sales tax.  (September 2007)  Distribution of State and Local Government Revenue by Source.  This brief compares the reliance on various revenue sources across Georgia compared with eight other states.  (September 2007)  Tax Revenue Stability of Replacing the Property Tax with a Sales Tax. This policy brief discusses the implications for tax revenue stability of proposals that would replace the property tax with an increased sales tax.  (September 2007)      Potential Impact of the Great Plan on Georgia’s Tax Administration.  This brief examines local property tax and sales tax implications for tax administrators.  (August 2007)  Is a State VAT the Answer?  What’s the Question.  This report provides an overview of the differences between the retail sales tax and a value added tax and the potential use of a VAT in U.S. states.  (August 2007)  Budget Stabilization Funds:  A Cross-State Comparison.  This brief provides an overview of budget stabilization fund policies across the states.  (August 2007)    Four Options for Eliminating Property Taxes and Funding Local Governments.  This policy brief provides an overview of financing options in the case of substantially reduced property tax revenues for local governments in Georgia. (August 2007)  Economic Impact of the Commercial Music Industry in Atlanta and the State of Georgia:  New Estimates.  This report documents the economic and fiscal impact of the industry, and changes in the impact from 2003 to 2007.  (August 2007)  A Flat Rate Income Tax in Georgia.  This brief provides a distributional analysis for Georgia's current individual income tax and a 4 percent and 5.75 percent flat income tax rate structure. (July 2007)   Issues Associated with Replacing the Property Tax with State Grants.  This brief presents a list of issues and questions that should be considered in any proposal to replace the local property tax with state grants.  (July 2007)  Overview and Comparison of the Value Added Tax and the Retail Sales Tax.  This brief summarizes the similarities and differences between a value added tax and the much recognized general sales tax, or retail sales tax.  This brief is one in a series of briefs and reports that relate to tax policy options for Georgia.  (June 2007)  The Financial Position of Pennsylvania’s Public Sector:  Past, Present, and Future.  This report is the third of three reports that address the fiscal conditions of other states, explores the factors that explain the conditions, and the likely future trends.  (June 2007)  Alternative State Business Tax Systems:  A Comparison of State Income and Gross Receipts Taxes.  This report provides a five-point comparison between a state corporate income tax and a state gross receipts tax.  (May 2007)  Status of Women in Atlanta:  A Survey of Economic Demographic, and Social Indicators for the 15-County Area.  This report provides a detailed overview of economic, demographic and social aspects of women and girls in the Metro Atlanta region.  (May 2007)  Forecasting Pre-K Enrollment in Georgia Counties.  This report provides a manual that documents the forecasting methodology and provides the actual forecast of Pre-K enrollment by county for 2007-2011.  (April 2007)  A Description of the Proposed Comprehensive Revision of Georgia’s Tax Structure:  HR 900.  This brief is a summary of the provisions of the comprehensive revision of Georgia’s tax structure contained in HR 900.  (April 2007)  Revenue Structures of States Without An Income Tax..  This report compares Georgia’s revenue structure to states without an income tax in order to explore how Georgia’s revenue structure would have to change if it were to eliminate its income tax.  (April 2007)   For a free copy of any of the publications listed, call the Fiscal Research Center at 404/413-0249, or fax us at 404/413-0248.  All reports are available on our webpage at: frc.gsu.edu.  

Georgia's Immigrants: Past, Present, and Future - Brief

Georgia's Immigrants: Past, Present, and Future

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Georgia's Immigrants: Past, Present, and Future

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