CARLO MEDICI

This paper studies the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese immigration to the United States after 1882, across U.S. counties between 1870 and 1940. We find that the Act reduced labor supply for both the Chinese and other groups (i.e., white and non-white natives and immigrants). The drop in Chinese and non-Chinese labor supply was driven by both skilled and unskilled workers, and occurred across all major economic sectors. The Act also lowered income for all workers, reduced productivity, innovation, and firm investment, and caused a sharp contraction in manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. The results imply that Chinese and other workers were complements in economic production and the exclusion of the Chinese had a negative impact on economic development of the Western United States, which lasted at least until 1940.