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The Allocation of Immigrant Talent: Macroeconomic Implications for the U.S. and Across Countries

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Abstract

We quantify the labor market barriers that immigrants face, using an occupational choice model with natives and immigrants of multiple types subject to wedges that distort their allocations. We find sizable output gains from removing immigrant wedges in the U.S., representing 25% of immigrants' overall economic contribution, and that these wedges alter the impact of alternative immigration policies. We harmonize microdata across 19 economies and exploit cross-country variation in immigrant outcomes and estimated wedges to examine the drivers of differences in wedges and gains from their removal. Finally, we relate the estimated wedges with external cross-country measures of immigrant barriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Serdar Birinci & Fernando Leibovici & Kurt See, 2021. "The Allocation of Immigrant Talent: Macroeconomic Implications for the U.S. and Across Countries," Working Papers 2021-004, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised Jan 2024.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:90705
    DOI: 10.20955/wp.2021.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrej Cupák & Pavel Ciaian & d'Artis Kancs, 2021. "Comparing the immigrant-native pay gap: A novel evidence from home and host countries," EERI Research Paper Series EERI RP 2021/05, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; Occupational Barriers; Mobility; Misallocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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