ABSTRACT
The more commonly used methodological approach is to the study the consequences of a particular economic phenomenon. This methodology ignores the search for explanation amidst the complex forces of historical circumstances over time or the influences of societal institutions and practices at any given time. The strength of the study of consequences, however, depends primarily on the quality and the availability of the relevant data. The bulk of the available data on immigrants is collected for administrative purposes. Until the 1980s, there were no regular interim measures between the decennial census counts of the yearly experiences of the foreign born as there are for other personal characteristics of population subgroups of the population and labor force. The lack of reliable emigration data is but another example of the huge data gap that plagues attempts to adequately assess the impact of immigration with precision.
