Immigration and Spatial Equilibrium: The Role of Expenditures in the Country of Origin
研究发现国际移民更倾向于聚集在高消费城市，且原籍国物价越低这一倾向越明显；通过构建空间均衡模型，揭示了移民将部分收入用于原籍国消费这一渠道如何提升经济效率和本地居民福利。
We document that international migrants concentrate more in expensive cities—the more so, the lower the prices in their origin countries are—and consume less locally than comparable natives. We rationalize this empirical evidence by introducing a quantitative spatial equilibrium model, in which a part of immigrants’ income goes toward consumption in their origin countries. Using counter-factual simulations, we show that, due to this novel consumption channel, immigrants move economic activity toward expensive, high-productivity locations. This leads to a more efficient spatial allocation of labor and, as a result, increases the aggregate output and welfare of natives.