Labor Outflows and Labor Inflows in Puerto Rico

Although a sizable fraction of the Puerto Rican–born population moved to the United States, the island also received large inflows of persons born outside Puerto Rico. Hence Puerto Rico provides a unique setting for examining how labor inflows and outflows coexist and measuring the mirror‐image wage impact of these flows. The study yields two findings. First, the skills of the out‐migrants differ from those of the in‐migrants. Puerto Rico attracts high‐skill in‐migrants and exports low‐skill workers. Second, the two flows have opposing effects on wages: in‐migrants lower the wage of competing workers, and out‐migrants increase the wage.