IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolit/v34y2017i3d10.1007_s40888-017-0064-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of immigration on output and its components: a sectoral analysis for Italy at regional level

Author

Listed:
  • Ivan Etzo

    (University of Cagliari)

  • Carla Massidda

    (University of Cagliari)

  • Paolo Mattana

    (University of Cagliari)

  • Romano Piras

    (University of Cagliari)

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of immigrant workers on Italian sectors. The analysis is based on the channel output decomposition approach, by means of which the effect of immigration is measured with respect to per capita value added and its components. The empirical investigation is carried out at sector level during the period 2008–2011. The results show that immigrants exert a positive impact on total output which is mainly driven by the effect on total factor productivity. The main finding is that not all sectors benefit from the productivity gains. The sectors that mostly take advantage of immigrant workers are those featured by the predominance of manual tasks not requiring high communication skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivan Etzo & Carla Massidda & Paolo Mattana & Romano Piras, 2017. "The impact of immigration on output and its components: a sectoral analysis for Italy at regional level," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 34(3), pages 533-564, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:34:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s40888-017-0064-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-017-0064-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40888-017-0064-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40888-017-0064-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Libertad Gonzalez & Francesc Ortega, 2013. "Immigration And Housing Booms: Evidence From Spain," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 37-59, February.
    2. Giovanni Peri & Kevin Y. Shih & Chad Sparber, 2014. "Foreign STEM Workers and Native Wages and Employment in U.S. Cities," NBER Working Papers 20093, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Patricia Cortés & José Tessada, 2011. "Low-Skilled Immigration and the Labor Supply of Highly Skilled Women," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 88-123, July.
    4. Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "Rethinking The Effect Of Immigration On Wages," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 9, pages 245-290, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Alberto Alesina & Johann Harnoss & Hillel Rapoport, 2016. "Birthplace diversity and economic prosperity," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 101-138, June.
    6. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    7. Giovanni Peri & Chad Sparber, 2016. "Task Specialization, Immigration, and Wages," World Scientific Book Chapters,in: The Economics of International Migration, chapter 3, pages 81-115 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Peri, Giovanni, 2008. "Immigration and National Wages: Clarifying the Theory and the Empirics," CEPR Discussion Papers 6916, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. William Blankenau & Steven Cassou, 2011. "Industry estimates of the elasticity of substitution and the rate of biased technological change between skilled and unskilled labour," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(23), pages 3129-3142.
    10. Stefano Staffolani & Enzo Valentini, 2010. "Does Immigration Raise Blue and White Collar Wages of Natives? The Case of Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(3), pages 295-310, September.
    11. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Does Immigration Grease the Wheels of the Labor Market?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 14, pages 431-484, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Francesc Ortega & Giovanni Peri, 2009. "The Causes and Effects of International Migrations: Evidence from OECD Countries 1980-2005," NBER Working Papers 14833, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Antonio Ciccone & Giovanni Peri, 2005. "Long-Run Substitutability Between More and Less Educated Workers: Evidence from U.S. States, 1950-1990," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 652-663, November.
    14. William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2010. "The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 473-508, July.
    15. Agnese Romiti, 2011. "Immigrants-natives complementarities in production: evidence from Italy," CeRP Working Papers 105, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy).
    16. Giovanni Peri, 2016. "The Effect Of Immigration On Productivity: Evidence From U.S. States," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Economics of International Migration, chapter 8, pages 265-275, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Lewis, Ethan & Peri, Giovanni, 2015. "Immigration and the Economy of Cities and Regions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 625-685, Elsevier.
    18. Card, David, 2001. "Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of Higher Immigration," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 22-64, January.
    19. Francesc Ortega & Giovanni Peri, 2009. "The Causes and Effects of International Migrations: Evidence from OECD Countries 1980-2005," NBER Working Papers 14833, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. William W. Olney, 2013. "Immigration And Firm Expansion," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 142-157, February.
    21. Patricia Cortes, 2008. "The Effect of Low-Skilled Immigration on U.S. Prices: Evidence from CPI Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(3), pages 381-422, June.
    22. Mariya Aleksynska & Ahmed Tritah, 2015. "The Heterogeneity Of Immigrants, Host Countries' Income And Productivity: A Channel Accounting Approach," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 150-172, January.
    23. Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano & Giovanni Peri, 2005. "Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and Evidence from the U.S," NBER Working Papers 11672, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Arpaia, Alfonso & Pérez, Esther & Pichelmann, Karl, 2009. "Understanding labour income share dynamics in Europe," MPRA Paper 15649, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    25. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    26. Jennifer Hunt, 2011. "Which Immigrants Are Most Innovative and Entrepreneurial? Distinctions by Entry Visa," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(3), pages 417-457.
    27. De Arcangelis, Giuseppe & Di Porto, Edoardo & Santoni, Gianluca, 2015. "Migration, labor tasks and production structure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 156-169.
    28. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci, 2010. "The effects of public capital on the productivity of the Italian regions," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(8), pages 989-1002.
    29. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    30. Ethan Lewis, 2011. "Immigration, Skill Mix, and Capital Skill Complementarity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 1029-1069.
    31. Mocetti, Sauro & Porello, Carmine, 2010. "How does immigration affect native internal mobility? New evidence from Italy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 427-439, November.
    32. Ortega, Francesc & Peri, Giovanni, 2009. "The Causes and Effects of International Labor Mobility: Evidence from OECD Countries 1980-2005," MPRA Paper 19183, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    33. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Edoardo Porto & Gianluca Santoni, 2015. "Immigration and manufacturing in Italy: evidence from the 2000s," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(2), pages 163-187, June.
    34. Joseph G. Altonji & David Card, 1991. "The Effects of Immigration on the Labor Market Outcomes of Less-skilled Natives," NBER Chapters, in: Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market, pages 201-234, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413.
    36. George J. Borjas & Jeffrey Grogger & Gordon H. Hanson, 2012. "Comment: On Estimating Elasticities Of Substition," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 198-210, February.
    37. Gianmarco Ottaviano & Giovanni Peri, 2013. "New Frontiers Of Immigration Research: Cities And Firms," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 1-7, February.
    38. Abowd, John M. & Freeman, Richard B. (ed.), 1991. "Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226000954, December.
    39. Francesca Mazzolari & David Neumark, 2012. "Immigration and product diversity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 1107-1137, July.
    40. Antonio Accetturo & Matteo Bugamelli & Andrea Lamorgese, 2012. "Welcome to the machine: firms' reaction to low-skilled immigration," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 846, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    41. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    42. Giovanni Peri & Chad Sparber, 2016. "Task Specialization, Immigration, and Wages," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Economics of International Migration, chapter 3, pages 81-115, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    43. Giulia Bettin & Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2014. "A firm level perspective on migration: the role of extra-EU workers in Italian manufacturing," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 305-325, December.
    44. Anna Maria Falzoni & Alessandra Venturini & Claudia Villosio, 2011. "Skilled and unskilled wage dynamics in Italy in the 1990s: changes in individual characteristics, institutions, trade and technology," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 441-463.
    45. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg & Jan Stuhler, 2016. "The Impact of Immigration: Why Do Studies Reach Such Different Results?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 31-56, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohsin Shah & Hamad Hasul Khan, 2020. "The Aggregate Impact of Trade and Migration on Economic Growth and its Components: Evidence from Emerging Economies," Asian Development Policy Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 8(2), pages 141-155, June.
    2. Piras , Romano & Etzo, Ivan & Massidda, Carla & Mattana, Paolo, 2021. "A Panel SVAR Analysis of the Long-Run Economic Impacts of Migration," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 74(2), pages 197-224.
    3. Rama Dasi Mariani & Alessandra Pasquini & Furio Camillo Rosati, 2023. "The Immigration Puzzle in Italy: A Survey of Evidence and Facts," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 85-116, March.
    4. Rama Dasi Mariani & Alessandra Pasquini & Furio Camillo Rosati, 2020. "Elementary Facts About Immigration in Italy. What Do We Know About Immigration and Its Impact," CEIS Research Paper 488, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 28 May 2020.
    5. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Marin, Giovanni & Perugini, Francesco, 2021. "Labour flexibility, internal migration and productivity in Italian regions," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 308-320.
    6. Mariachiara Barzotto & Giancarlo Corò & Ilaria Mariotti & Marco Mutinelli, 2019. "Ownership and workforce composition: a counterfactual analysis of foreign multinationals and Italian uni-national firms," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 46(4), pages 581-607, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lewis, Ethan & Peri, Giovanni, 2015. "Immigration and the Economy of Cities and Regions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 625-685, Elsevier.
    2. Ivan Etzo & Carla Massidda & Romano Piras, 2020. "Do Firms Follow Immigrants? Empirical Evidence From Italy," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 111(5), pages 718-737, December.
    3. Marcus H. Böhme & Sarah Kups, 2017. "The economic effects of labour immigration in developing countries: A literature review," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 335, OECD Publishing.
    4. Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa, 2023. "Decomposing the impact of immigration on house prices," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. Bosetti, Valentina & Cattaneo, Cristina & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Migration of skilled workers and innovation: A European Perspective," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 311-322.
    6. Sara de la Rica & Albretch Glitz & Francesc Ortega, 2013. "Immigration in Europe: Trends, Policies and Empirical Evidence," Working Papers 2013-16, FEDEA.
    7. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    8. Stefano Fusaro & Enrique López‐Bazo, 2021. "Immigration and Native Employment. Evidence from Italian Provinces in the Aftermath of the Great Recession," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(2), pages 405-428, April.
    9. Jens Ruhose, 2015. "Microeconometric Analyses on Economic Consequences of Selective Migration," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 61.
    10. Francesc Ortega & Giovanni Peri, 2016. "Openness and income: The roles of trade and migration," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Economics of International Migration, chapter 10, pages 309-329, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2015. "Skilled Immigration and the Employment Structures of US Firms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 147-186.
    12. Mitaritonna, Cristina & Orefice, Gianluca & Peri, Giovanni, 2017. "Immigrants and firms’ outcomes: Evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 62-82.
    13. Brunello, Giorgio & Lodigiani, Elisabetta & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2020. "Does low-skilled immigration increase profits? Evidence from Italian local labour markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    14. Francesca Mazzolari & David Neumark, 2012. "Immigration and product diversity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 1107-1137, July.
    15. Chletsos Michael & Roupakias Stelios, 2019. "Do Immigrants Compete with Natives in the Greek Labour Market? Evidence from the Skill-Cell Approach before and during the Great Recession," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-30, April.
    16. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola von Berlepsch, 2012. "When migrants rule: the legacy of mass migration on economic development in the US," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1216, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2012.
    17. Gray, Rowena & Montresor, Giulia & Wright, Greg C., 2020. "Processing immigration shocks: Firm responses on the innovation margin," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    18. Martin Kahanec & Mariola Pytliková, 2017. "The economic impact of east–west migration on the European Union," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 407-434, August.
    19. Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa, 2014. "First-come first-served: identifying the demand effect of immigration inflows on house prices," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58341, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2011. "Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 1-32, Spring.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Channel output decomposition approach; Immigrant workers; Italy; Sectors; Regions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • F62 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Macroeconomic Impacts
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:34:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s40888-017-0064-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.