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The Benefits of Immigrants to Canada: Evidence on Tax and Public Services

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  • Ather H. Akbari

Abstract

The life-cycle theory implication that immigrants, being young at the time of arrival, should benefit the native-born population in a tax-transfer system is analyzed for Canada. Microdata from the 1981 Canadian Census of Population are used. Consumption of major public services and payment of major taxes by the average immigrant and non-immigrant households are considered. It is observed that even after they have stayed for 35 years in Canada, immigrant households are a source of public fund transfers to non-immigrants. This confirms the life-cycle net benefit hypothesis. Implications for public policy with respect to immigration policy are suggested.

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  • Ather H. Akbari, 1989. "The Benefits of Immigrants to Canada: Evidence on Tax and Public Services," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 15(4), pages 424-435, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:15:y:1989:i:4:p:424-435
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    1. Susan A. McDaniel, 1987. "Demographic Aging as a Guiding Paradigm in Canada's Welfare State," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 13(3), pages 330-336, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Holger Bonin, 2002. "Eine fiskalische Gesamtbilanz der Zuwanderung nach Deutschland," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 71(2), pages 215-229.
    2. Lin, Zhengxi, 1998. "Canadiens nes a l'etranger et Canadiens de naissance : une comparaison de la mobilite interprovinciale de leur main-d'oeuvre," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 1998114f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    3. James Ted McDonald & Christopher Worswick, 1997. "Unemployment Incidence of Immigrant Men in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 23(4), pages 353-373, December.
    4. Kjetil Storesletten, 2000. "Sustaining Fiscal Policy through Immigration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(2), pages 300-323, April.
    5. René Weber & Thomas Straubhaar, 1996. "Immigration and the public transfer system: Some empirical evidence for Switzerland," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 132(2), pages 330-355, September.
    6. R. G. Coulson & D. J. DeVoretz, 1993. "Human Capital Content of Canadian Immigrants: 1967-1987," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 19(4), pages 357-366, December.
    7. Karin Mayr, 2004. "The fiscal impact of immigrants in Austria--a generational accounting analysis," Economics working papers 2004-09, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    8. Arnold de Silva, 1997. "Immigrant Participation in the Unemployment Insurance System," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 23(4), pages 375-397, December.
    9. Julian L. Simon, 1996. "Some Findings about European Immigration," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 19(1-2), pages 129-137, April.
    10. Grubel, Herbert & Grady, Patrick, 2012. "Fiscal transfers to immigrants in Canada: responding to critics and a revised estimate," MPRA Paper 37406, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Mar 2012.
    11. Paweł Kaczmarczyk, 2013. "Are immigrants a burden for the state budget? Review paper," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/79, European University Institute.
    12. Andrew M. Isserman, 1996. "“It's Obvious, It's Wrong, and Anyway They Said It Years Ago†? Paul Krugman on Large Cities," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 19(1-2), pages 37-48, April.
    13. Mireille Laroche, 2000. "Health Status and Health Services Utilization of Canada's Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Populations," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 26(1), pages 51-75, March.
    14. Lin, Zhengxi, 1998. "Foreign-born vs Native-born Canadians: A Comparison of Their Inter-provincial Labour Mobility," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1998114e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    15. Hisahiro Naito, 2013. "Pareto-improving Immigration and Its Effect on Capital Accumulation in the Presence of Social Security," Tsukuba Economics Working Papers 2013-004, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
    16. Sohrab Abizadeh & Nancy Ghalam, 1994. "Immigrants and Canadian-born: A consumption behaviour assessment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 49-72, May.
    17. Hisahiro Naito, 2015. "Immigration as a Policy Tool for the Double Burden Problem of Prefunding Pay-as-you-go Social Security System," Tsukuba Economics Working Papers 2015-002, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
    18. Kaczmarczyk, Pawel, 2015. "Burden or Relief? Fiscal Impacts of Recent Ukrainian Migration to Poland," IZA Discussion Papers 8779, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Hinte, Holger & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2014. "Does the Calculation Hold? The Fiscal Balance of Migration to Denmark and Germany," IZA Policy Papers 87, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Hisahiro Naito, 2014. "Pareto-improving Immigration and Its Effect on Capital Accumulation in the Presence of Social Security," Working Papers e081, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    21. Charles M. Beach & Christopher Worswick, 1993. "Is There a Double-Negative Effect on the Earnings of Immigrant Women?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 19(1), pages 36-53, March.
    22. Hisahiro Naito, 2014. "Pareto-improving Immigration in the Presence of Social Security," Tsukuba Economics Working Papers 2014-003, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
    23. Bharati Basu & Richard B Clemmer, 2009. "Do immigrants pose a fiscal burden on the host country budget? : a case study for Michigan," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(3), pages 2174-2201.
    24. Grady, Patrick, 2011. "A Critique of “Macroeconomic Impacts of Canadian Immigration… Using the Focus Model” (Dungan, Fang and Gunderson, 2010)," MPRA Paper 65454, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    25. Jan Ekberg, 2011. "Will Future Immigration to Sweden Make it Easier to Finance the Welfare System?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 103-124, February.

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