Consumer gains from physician immigration to the US: 1966–1971

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Abstract
This paper examines the impact of the 1965 liberalization of immigration restrictions on the market for physician services in the United State. Estimates of the effect of physician migration on consumer surplus and physician earnings are calculated for the period beginning in 1966 and ending in 1971. A conservative estimate is that the dollar value of the benefits to consumers from unrestricted migration over the six-year period had reached 2.9 billion dollars (in 1967 dollars) by 1971. Measured as a percentage of total expenditures on physician services, the gain to consumers ranges from near 1% in 1966 to over 12% by 1971. A conservative estimate is that physician earnings would have been 11% higher by 1971 had there been no change in migration restirctions in 1965. As an empirical contribution to the debate over physician migration, the estimates presented in this paper give a rough idea of the magnitude of the dollar values involved when migration restrictions are liberalized during a period of rapid growth in demand.

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