Detailed definitions are available at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website
).
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6
Figure 1:
The Change of Labor Cost and FDI Net Inflows: 1970–2005
Source
: Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of the Labor Statistic
If the relationship between labor cost and FDI inflows is so vital, what can lower labor costs
in the U.S.? Some scholars suggest that expansive immigration policy entices immigrants, who
support the labor supply in local labor markets (e.g., Borjas, 1999; Wong, 2006). Ivlevs (2006)
suggests that “actual international labor flows are determined by changes in national regulation
(such as the imposition of immigration quotas), and not solely by wage differential in sending
and receiving countries” (Ivlevs, 2006, p. 3). Theoretical discussion of immigration policy
indicates that, as they are the principal economic beneficiaries of a liberal policy that would lead
to the expansion of the labor pool, employers can hold wages down in the context of a more
liberal policy even when native workers are available (Slaughter, 2003; Wong, 2006). Similarly,
Borjas (1999) demonstrates that expansive immigration policies stimulate the entry of large
numbers of less-skilled workers, which has the effect of lowering wages among competing
domestic workers (Borjas, 1999).
The positive link between immigration policy and investment decisions by foreign firms to
bring FDI can be clarified by recalling that firms are rational in nature
and pursue activities
intended to result in profit maximization. Fry (1983) points out that international investors
explicitly watch how restrictive immigration policies function and how regulations are adopted,
modified, or eliminated. Moosa (2002) suggests that firms make their decision whether to invest
using data from four major categories: the market forces that guide the country’s economic
activity; the types of investment the government is seeking; actual laws, policies, and
regulations and those in development; and cost–benefit analysis. Moosa (2002) finds, for
example, that the growth of U.K. FDI to the U.S. since the 1980s is due to the relatively
unrestrictive immigration policy toward inward FDI. Survey respondents from foreign firms
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7
provide critical evidence that labor costs are heavy in the decisions of both manufacturing and
service companies to locate overseas, and thus they pay closer attention to the laws or
regulations that may affect the labor market.
3
When foreign firms expect the wage-down effect
from increased immigrants, they pay closer attention to changes in immigration policy.
In short, U.S. immigration policy and FDI inflows are both important as separate
phenomena, but they are interconnected as well. A new immigration policy that is intended to
increase immigration would produce a more flexible labor market, which in turn would attract
foreign investors. Although the federal government must consider other policies when taking
action to impact FDI, particularly those that provide financial incentives, such as reduced
corporate tax rates, grants, and preferential loans, immigration policy is nevertheless a critical
factor for firms as they make their investment decisions. All else being equal, expansive
immigration policy can be expected to increase FDI in the U.S. due to the larger stable supply of
laborers in the market. Taken as a whole, then, I posit the following two hypotheses:
Hypothesis 2: More liberal immigration policies tend to reduce labor costs.
Hypothesis 3: More liberal immigration policies indirectly increase FDI inflows by
lowering labor costs.
This paper expects that more expansive immigration policies attract FDI. In addition to this
direct effect, it is expected that more expansive immigration policies indirectly lead to increased
FDI inflows through downward pressure on labor costs, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2:
Conceptual Linkage between Immigration Policy and FDI Inflows
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