THE ROLE OF IMMIGRATION IN UNITED STATES COMMODITY PRODUCTION, 1869-1929.

The article presents a estimate of the quantitative impact of the foreign born labor force on the U.S. commodity production over 1869-1929. In order to demonstrate the importance of immigration, the author has constructed estimates of per capita commodity output in the absence of foreign born labor. A broader measure could be defined to include the output produced by foreign born laborers and their children. This more broadly defined measure would give a greater weight to the quantitative impact of immigration and would extend this impact later into the twentieth century. The measure used in this paper, foreign born labor, indicates the economy's dependence on an exogenous labor force, most of whose basic rearing costs have been met before entering the United States. Estimates are made of employment in the commodity producing sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and construction for the total labor force and for foreign born labor. A commodity output series is estimated, by sector, for 1869-1929. Average labor productivity for each commodity producing sector is constructed for the total labor force. The product of average labor productivity of the total labor force and immigrant employment, by sector, is taken to yield estimates of commodity output produced by the foreign born labor force.