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James P. Smith

Rose Li & Associates, USA, and IZA, Germany.

Dr James P. Smith passed away in August 4, 2022. He was an economist and expert at the RAND Corporation for almost two decades and chaired the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Data Monitoring Committee for 30 years. In 2020 he joint Rose Li & Associates as senior researcher. Dr Smith authored many highly valued studies and received several prestigious honors throughout his career. We are very grateful for his commitment and contribution to the IZA World of Labor.

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Senior Research Associate (Economist), Rose Li & Associates, USA

Research interest

Immigration, global health, economics of aging

Website

https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/08/10.html

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Chair of Panel on Policy Research and Data Needs to Meet the Challenge of Aging in Asia (2010-2012); National Academy of Science; Member, National Institute of Aging Council Advisory Committee (NACA) to the Director of the National Institute of Aging, (2009-2011); Chair, Panel on Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration, National Academy of Sciences (1995-1997)

Past positions

Chair, Labor Markets and Demographic Studies, RAND Corporation, USA (1997-2020)

Qualifications

PhD Economics, University of Chicago, USA, 1972

Selected publications

  • “Immigrants and the labor market.” Journal of Labor Economics 24 (2006): 203-233.

  • “Immigrants and their education.” In: Hanushek, E., and F. Welch (eds). Handbook of the Economics of Education, Volume 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006; pp. 156-187.

  • “Immigration health: Selectivity and acculturation.” In: Anderson, N. B., R. A. Bulatao, and B. Cohen (eds). Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2004; pp. 227-266 (with G. Jasso, D. Massey, and M. Rosenzweig).

  • “The changing skill of new immigrants to the United States: Recent trends and their determinants.” In: Borjas, G. J. (ed.). Issues in the Economics of Immigration. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000; pp. 185-225 (with G. Jasso and M. R. Rosenzweig).

  • The New Americans: The Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997 (with B. Edmonson, eds).

article(s)

  • Taxpayer effects of immigration Updated

    Reliable estimates of taxpayer effects are essential for complete economic analyses of the costs and benefits of immigration

    James P. Smith, October 2018
    Taxpayer effects are a central part of the total economic costs and benefits of immigration, but they have not received much study. These effects are the additional or lower taxes paid by native-born households due to the difference between tax revenues paid and benefits received by immigrant households. The effects vary considerably by immigrant attributes and level of government involvement, with costs usually diminishing greatly over the long term as immigrants integrate fully into society.
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