How does return migration from the US to Mexico affect local workers? Return migrants increase the local labor supply, potentially hurting local workers. However, having been exposed to a more advanced U.S. economy, they may also carry human capital that benefits non-migrants. Using an instrument based on involuntary return migration, we find that, whereas workers who share returnees’ occupations experience a fall in wages, workers in other occupations see their wages rise. These effects are, however, transitory and restricted to the city-industry receiving the returnees. In contrast, returnees permanently alter a city’s long-run industrial composition, by raising employment levels in the local industries that hire them.

从美国返回墨西哥对当地工人有何影响？返乡移民增加了当地劳动力供应，可能会伤害当地工人。然而，由于接触了更发达的美国经济，他们也可能拥有有利于非移民的人力资本。使用基于非自愿返回移民的工具，我们发现，虽然分享返回者职业的工人的工资下降，但从事其他职业的工人的工资却上升了。然而，这些影响是暂时的，仅限于接收海归的城市工业。相比之下，回返者通过提高雇用他们的当地行业的就业水平，永久性地改变了一个城市的长期产业构成。