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This paper examines the economic impact of the second great immigration wave (1945-2000) on the US economy. Our analysis relies on a computable general equilibrium model combining the major interactions between immigrants and natives (labor market impact, fiscal impact, capital deepening, endogenous education, endogenous inequality). Contrary to recent studies, we show that immigration induced important net gains and small redistributive effects among natives. According to our simulations, the postwar US immigration is beneficial for all natives cohorts and all skill groups. Nevertheless, the gains would have been larger if the US had conducted a more selective immigration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of more restrictive assumptions on regional input-output (IO) models compared to computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, IO results are thought to be consistent with long-run equilibrium but otherwise overestimated. We compare IO and CGE models' response to a shock to Washington crop exports under various labor market and capital closures. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that the positive secondary impacts are larger in the CGE models than in the IO model. Also contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that the closest match between direct effects is when the CGE model has short run, rather than long run restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]