Abstract
This thesis is a theoretical and empirical examination of the impact of New Commonwealth immigration during 1951-66 on the welfare of the indigenous population of the United Kingdom. Chapter I concentrates mainly on the pattern of New Commonwealth immigration in the post-war period and the effect of immigration laws. The experiences of the other West European countries are also briefly examined. Chapter II surveys previous theoretical analyses of the welfare implications of immigration. Chapter III surveys the empirical literature on the economic impact of immigration with particular reference to the United Kingdom and West European experience and points to the differences in approach between that of the empirical researchers and the theoretical models discussed in Chapter II. Chapter IV builds upon the work of the previous theoretical contributors and develops a framework that will enable the empirical estimation of the welfare impacts. A distinction is made between the non-traded and traded sectors, and for each of these sectors certain modifications are introduced to make the analysis more relevant for the United Kingdom experience: these include the provision of welfare services and tariffs and taxes. And finally, Chapter V presents the empirical estimates. The research suggests that immigration brought a small welfare loss for the indigenous population of the United Kingdom: the magnitudes are between 0.14 per cent and 0.24 per cent of the net output of the sectors examined. An important point revealed by the research is that the losses/gains depend on the industrial distribution of immigrant workers.