
Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2025
Abstract
This paper constructs a model for the study of optimal immigration from the perspective of natives. They have preferences over redistributive transfers, a public good subject to congestion, and over the level of family-based migration. Border enforcement is costly. The model derives conditions for an optimal immigration policy, which balances skill-based against family-based migration, equalizes the fiscal opportunity cost of unauthorized immigration with the marginal cost of enforcement, and balances the effects on transfers against the implied congestion effects. A parameterized version of the model studies the 1994–2008 period and finds legislation projects on immigration consistent with the model's predictions.
Recommended Citation
Lopez-Velasco, A.R. (2025) On the design of an optimal immigration policy. Economic Inquiry, 63(1), 47–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13260
Publication Title
Economic Inquiry
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13260
Comments
Original published version available at
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/S6T2THTFUCCPCBKJZ6TD?target=10.1111/ecin.13260