Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-cphqk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-07T10:37:35.113Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Immigration Policy Making in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

Margaret E. Peters
Get access

Abstract

This article argues that immigration policy formation in the United States after 1950 can only be understood in the context of the increasing integration of world markets. Increasing trade openness has exposed firms that rely on immigrant labor to foreign competition and increased the likelihood that these firms fail. Increasing openness by other states to foreign direct investment (FDI) allowed these same firms to move production overseas. Firms' choices to close their doors or to move overseas decrease their need for labor at home, leading them to spend their political capital on issues other than immigration. Their lack of support for open immigration, in turn, allows policymakers to restrict immigration. An examination of voting behavior on immigration in the US Senate shows that the integration of world capital and goods markets has had an important effect on the politics of immigration in the United States and shows little support for existing theories of immigration policy formation. In addition to increasing one's understanding of immigration policy, this article sheds light on how trade openness and firms' choice of production location can affect their preference for other foreign economic policies as well as domestic policies such as labor, welfare, and environmental policies.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 68 , Issue 4 , Fall 2014 , pp. 811 - 844
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alt, James E., and Gilligan, Michael. 1994. The Political Economy of Trading States: Factor Specificity, Collective Action Problems, and Domestic Political Institutions. Journal of Political Philosophy 2 (2):165–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, Martin N., and Lawrence, Robert Z.. 2004. What Happened to the Great US Job Machine? The Role of Trade and Electronic Offshoring. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2:211–84.Google Scholar
Bailey, Michael A., Goldstein, Judith, and Weingast, Barry R.. 1997. The Institutional Roots of American Trade Policy: Politics, Coalitions, and International Trade. World Politics 49 (3):309–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barton, John H., Goldstein, Judith L., Josling, Timothy E., and Steinberg, Richard H., eds. 2006. The Evolution of the Trade Regime: Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 2009. Policy Agendas Project: Roll Call Votes. Available at <http://www.policyagendas.org/page/datasets-codebooks#roll_call_votes>. Accessed 21 May 2009..+Accessed+21+May+2009.>Google Scholar
Blinder, Alan S. 2007. How Many US Jobs Might Be Offshorable? CPES Working Paper 142. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.Google Scholar
Briggs, Vernon M. 2001. Immigration and American Unionism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Stuart S. 2006. Can Remittances Spur Development? A Critical Survey. International Studies Review 8 (1):55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broz, J. Lawrence, and Werfel, Seth H.. 2014. Exchange Rates and Industry Demands for Trade Protection. International Organization 68 (2):393–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2009. GDP by State. Available at <http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=1&isuri=1&acrdn=1#reqid=70&step=1&isuri=1>. Accessed 9 January 2010..+Accessed+9+January+2010.>Google Scholar
Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2012. US Direct Investment Abroad: Industry Detail. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Available at <http://www.bea.gov/international/index.htm#omc>. Accessed 15 November 2012..+Accessed+15+November+2012.>Google Scholar
Carter, Susan B., Gartner, Scott S., Haines, Michael R., Olmstead, Alan L., Sutch, Richard, and Wright, Gavin, eds. 2006. Historical Statistics of the United States Millennial Edition Online. New York: Cambridge University Press. Table Ad 256-279: Population, by Sex, Nativity, and Citizenship Status: 1920–1990. Available at <http://hsus.cambridge.org/HSUSWeb/toc/tableToc.do?id=Ad256-279>. Accessed 25 November 2012..+Accessed+25+November+2012.>Google Scholar
Center for Responsive Politics. ND. Opensecrets.org: Lobbying Database. Available at <http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php>. Accessed 14 June 2012..+Accessed+14+June+2012.>Google Scholar
Chinn, Menzie D., and Ito, Hiro. 2008. A New Measure of Financial Openness. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 10 (3):309–22.Google Scholar
Clemens, Michael A., and Williamson, Jeffrey G.. 2004. Why Did the Tariff-Growth Correlation Change After 1950? Journal of Economic Growth 9 (1):5–46.Google Scholar
Clews, Henry. 1908. The Financial and Trade Situation and Prospects. Transactions of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association 84:244–61.Google Scholar
Congressional Quarterly. 2003. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Abolished, with Border Security, Immigration Services Divided at Department of Homeland Security (DHS). CQ Almanac 2002. Available at <http://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal02-236-10366-664138>. Accessed 12 July 2010..+Accessed+12+July+2010.>Google Scholar
Congressional Quarterly. 2005. Details of the Intelligence Overhaul Law. CQ Almanac 2004. Available at <http://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal04-836-24353-1084612>. Accessed 12 July 2010..+Accessed+12+July+2010.>Google Scholar
Congressional Quarterly. 2006a. Immigration, 2001–2002 Legislative Chronology. In Congress and the Nation 2001–2004: Politics and Policy in the 107th and 108th Congresses. Vol. 11. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Congressional Quarterly. 2006b. War Supplemental Has Strings Attached. CQ Almanac 2005. Available at <http://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal05-766-20104-1042385>. Accessed 12 July 2010..+Accessed+12+July+2010.>Google Scholar
Copelovitch, Mark, and Pevehouse, Jon C.. 2013. Ties That Bind? Preferential Trade Agreements and Exchange Rate Policy Choice. International Studies Quarterly 57 (2):385–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feenstra, Robert C., and Hanson, Gordon H.. 1996. Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality. American Economic Review 86 (2):240–45.Google Scholar
Freeman, Gary P. 1995. Modes of Immigration Politics in Liberal Democratic States. International Migration Review 29 (4):881–902.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frieden, Jeffry. 1991. Invested Interests: The Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global Finance. International Organization 45 (4):425–51.Google Scholar
Gibney, Matthew J. 2004. The Ethics and Politics of Asylum. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gimpel, James G., and Edwards, James R.. 1999. The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Goldin, Claudia D. 1994. The Political Economy of Immigration Restrictions in the United States, 1890 to 1921. In The Regulated Economy: A Historical Approach to Political Economy, edited by Goldin, Claudia and Libecap, Gary D., 223–57. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldin, Claudia D., and Katz, Lawrence F.. 1998. The Origins of Technology-Skill Complementarity. Quarterly Journal of Economics 113 (3):693–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, Judith L., and Peters, Margaret E.. 2014. Nativism or Economic Threat: Attitudes Toward Immigrants During the Great Recession. International Interactions 40 (3): 376–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grieco, Elizabeth M., Acosta, Yesenia D., Cruz, G. Patricia de la, Gambino, Christine, Gryn, Thomas, Larsen, Luke J., Trevelyan, Edward N., and Walters, Nathan P.. 2012. The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2010. In American Community Survey Reports, 1–22. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau.Google Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, and Hiscox, Michael J.. 2010. Attitudes Toward Highly Skilled and Low-Skilled Immigration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment. American Political Science Review 104 (1):1–24.Google Scholar
Hanson, Gordon H., Scheve, Kenneth F., and Slaughter, Matthew J.. 2007. Public Finance and Individual Preferences Over Globalization Strategies. Economics and Politics 19 (1):1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartog, Chris D., and Monroe, Nathan W.. 2011. Agenda Setting in the US Senate. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatton, Timothy J., and Williamson, Jeffrey G. 2005. Global Migration and the World Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helpman, Elhanan, Itskhoki, Oleg, and Redding, Stephen 2009. Inequality and Unemployment in a Global Economy. CEPR Discussion Paper No. 7353. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research.Google Scholar
Hiscox, Michael J. 1999. The Magic Bullet? The RTAA, Institutional Reform, and Trade Liberalization. International Organization 53 (4):669–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holborn, Louise W. 1965. International Organizations for Migration of European Nationals and Refugees. International Journal 20 (3):331–49.Google Scholar
Honaker, James, King, Gary, and Blackwell, Matthew. 2010. Amelia II: A Program for Missing Data. Available at <http://gking.harvard.edu/amelia>. Accessed 5 May 2010..+Accessed+5+May+2010.>Google Scholar
Hull, Cordell, and Berding, Andrew H.T.. 1948. The Memoirs of Cordell Hull. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, Edward P. 1981. Legislative History of American Immigration Policy, 1798–1965. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikenberry, G. John. 2001. After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Irwin, Douglas A. 1998. From Smoot-Hawley to Reciprocal Trade Agreements: Changing the Course of US Trade Policy in the 1930s. In The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century, edited by Bordo, Michael D., Goldin, Claudia D., and White, Eugene N., 325–52. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Irwin, Douglas A., and Kroszner, Randy S.. 1996. Log-Rolling and Economic Interest in the Passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy 45:173–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joppke, Christian. 1998. Why Liberal States Accept Unwanted Immigration. World Politics 50 (2):266–93.Google Scholar
Jupp, James. 2002. From White Australia to Woom Era: The Story of Australian Immigration. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelley, Ninette, and Trebilcock, Michael J.. 1998. The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O., and Milner, Helen V.. 1996. Internationalization and Domestic Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krutz, Glen S. 2001. Tactical Maneuvering on Omnibus Bills in Congress. American Journal of Political Science 41 (1):210–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lake, David A. 2009. Open Economy Politics: A Critical Review. Review of International Organizations 4:219–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leblang, David A. 2010. Familiarity Breeds Investment: Diaspora Networks and International Investment. American Political Science Review 104 (3):584–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Frances E. 2009. Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the US Senate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linden, Tom. 2006. Myths and Theories; Facts and Fiction: Misinformation Frames Immigration Reform Debate. Western Grower and Shipper, 11–17 January.Google Scholar
Mansfield, Edward D., and Busch, Marc L.. 1995. The Political Economy of Nontariff Barriers: A Cross-National Analysis. International Organization 49 (4):723–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medina, Mariana. 2010. Give Me Your Engineers, Your PhDs, Yearning to Fund My Welfare State: Fiscal Crises and High-Skilled Immigration Policies. PhD diss., Washington University in Saint Louis, MO.Google Scholar
Melitz, Marc J. 2003. The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity. Econometrica 71 (6):1695–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 1988. Trading Places: Industries for Free Trade. World Politics 40 (3):350–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, Helen V., and Tingley, Dustin H., 2012. Sailing the Water's Edge: Where Domestic Politics Meets Foreign Policy. Unpublished manuscript, Princeton University/Harvard University, Princeton, NJ/Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Mosley, Layna. 2003. Global Capital and National Governments. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nassif, Tom. 2005. Nassif Takes on Dobbs, Transcript. Western Grower and Shipper, 8–9 May.Google Scholar
Nassif, Tom. 2006a. Hasta la Vista, Baby. Transcript. Western Grower and Shipper, 4 April.Google Scholar
Nassif, Tom. 2006b. The Key. Transcript. Western Grower and Shipper, 5–6 May.Google Scholar
Oatley, Thomas. 2011. The Reductionist Gamble: Open Economy Politics in the Global Economy. International Organization 65 (2):311–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obstfeld, Maurice, and Taylor, Alan M.. 2004. Global Capital Markets: Integration, Crisis, and Growth. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, Margaret E. 2011. Open Trade, Closed Borders: Immigration Policy in the Era of Globalization. PhD diss., Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.Google Scholar
Peters, Margaret E. Forthcoming. Open Trade, Closed Borders: Immigration Policy in the Era of Globalization. World Politics 67 (1).Google Scholar
Poole, Keith T. 2009. 1st–101st Senate Roll Call Data. Available at <http://voteview.com/>. Accessed 9 January 2010..+Accessed+9+January+2010.>Google Scholar
Poole, Keith T., and Lewis, Jeff 2009. 109th–110th Senate Roll Call Data. Available at <http://voteview.com/downloads.asp#PARTYSPLITSDWNL>. Accessed 9 January 2010..+Accessed+9+January+2010.>Google Scholar
Poole, Keith. T., and McCarty, Nolan 2009. 102nd–108th Senate Roll Call Data. Available at <http://voteview.com/downloads.asp#PARTYSPLITSDWNL>. Accessed 9 January 2010..+Accessed+9+January+2010.>Google Scholar
Quincy, Josiah. 1896. Address by Mayor Quincy of Boston. Transactions of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association 60:65–67.Google Scholar
Quinn, Dennis, and Toyoda, A. Maria 2008. Does Capital Account Liberalization Lead to Growth? Review of Financial Studies 21 (3):1403–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, Dennis, and Inclan, Carla. 1997. The Origins of Financial Openness: A Study of Current and Capital Account Liberalization. American Journal of Political Science 41 (3):771–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Jason M., and Smith, Steven S.. 2003. Procedural Contexts, Party Strategy, and Conditional Party Voting in the US House of Representatives, 1971–2000. American Journal of Political Science 47 (2):305–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogowski, Ronald. 1989. Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ruggles, Steven, Alexander, J. Trent, Genadek, Katie, Goeken, Ronald, Schroeder, Matthew B., and Sobek, Matthew 2010. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 5.0 [machine-readable database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. Available at <https://usa.ipums.org/usa/>. Accessed 3 October 2012..+Accessed+3+October+2012.>Google Scholar
Schott, Peter K. 2010. US Manufacturing Exports and Imports by SIC or NAICS Category and Partner Country, 1972 to 2005. Unpublished manuscript, New Haven, CT: Yale School of Management.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2000. The Legalization of International Monetary Affairs. International Organization 54 (3):573–602.Google Scholar
Singer, David A. 2010. Migrant Remittances and Exchange Rate Regimes in the Developing World. American Political Science Review 104 (2):307–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tichenor, Daniel J. 2002. Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timmer, Ashley S., and Williamson, Jeffrey G.. 1998. Immigration Policy Prior to the 1930s: Labor Markets, Policy Interactions, and Globalization Backlash. Population and Development Review 24 (4):739–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations Development Program. 2009. Human Development Report 2009: Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
US Census Bureau. Various years a. Census of Governments. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Available at <https://www.census.gov/govs/cog/historical_data.html>. Accessed 8 January 2010..+Accessed+8+January+2010.>Google Scholar
US Census Bureau. Various years b. Census of Manufactures. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Available at <http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/asm/>. Accessed 8 January 2010..+Accessed+8+January+2010.>Google Scholar
US Census Bureau. Various years c. Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Available at <https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>. Accessed 8 January 2010..+Accessed+8+January+2010.>Google Scholar
Von Stein, Jana. 2005. Do Treaties Constrain or Screen? Selection Bias and Treaty Compliance. American Political Science Review 99 (4):611–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zolberg, Aristide R. 2006. A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Peters Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Peters Supplementary Material(File)
File 4.2 MB