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Immigrant Skill Selection and Utilizatin: A Comparative Analysis of Australia, Canada, and the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Clarke

    (Department of Economics, University of Melbourne)

  • Mikal Skuterud

    (Department of Economics, University of Waterloo)

Abstract

We compare literacy skills and relative wage and employment outcomes of Australian, Canadian, and U.S. immigrants. We find substantially higher immigrant skill levels at the lower end of the distribution in Australia, especially among recent arrivals, but little difference at the top. In addition, we identify larger wage returns to immigrant skill in the U.S. whch we argue reflects language-skill complementarities. Our results suggest that the benefit of a point system lies in its potential to limit unskilled immigration, rather than in raising skills at the upper end of the distribution where the growth potential of immigration is likely greatest.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Clarke & Mikal Skuterud, 2014. "Immigrant Skill Selection and Utilizatin: A Comparative Analysis of Australia, Canada, and the United States," Working Papers 1404, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:wat:wpaper:1404
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Garry F. Barrett, 2012. "The Return to Cognitive Skills in the Australian Labour Market," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 88(280), pages 1-17, March.
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    5. Green, David A. & Craig Riddell, W., 2003. "Literacy and earnings: an investigation of the interaction of cognitive and unobserved skills in earnings generation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 165-184, April.
    6. Heather Antecol & Peter Kuhn & Stephen J. Trejo, 2006. "Assimilation via Prices or Quantities?: Sources of Immigrant Earnings Growth in Australia, Canada, and the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(4).
    7. Abdurrahman Aydemir & Wen-Hao Chen & Miles Corak, 2009. "Intergenerational Earnings Mobility among the Children of Canadian Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(2), pages 377-397, May.
    8. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2005. "Do Cognitive Test Scores Explain Higher U.S. Wage Inequality?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 184-193, February.
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    10. Borjas, George J, 1993. "The Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 113-135, January.
    11. Abdurrahman Aydemir & Mikal Skuterud, 2008. "The Immigrant Wage Differential within and across Establishments," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(3), pages 334-352, April.
    12. Ana Ferrer & David A. Green & W. Craig Riddell, 2006. "The Effect of Literacy on Immigrant Earnings," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(2).
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    Cited by:

    1. Cahit Guven & Asadul Islam, 2015. "Age at Migration, Language Proficiency, and Socioeconomic Outcomes: Evidence From Australia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(2), pages 513-542, April.
    2. Şerife Genç İleri, 2019. "Selective immigration policy and its impacts on Canada's native‐born population: A general equilibrium analysis," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(3), pages 954-992, August.
    3. Dalon Taylor, 2018. "Flipping the Script for Skilled Immigrant Women: What Suggestions Might Critical Social Work Offer?," Proceedings of the 7th International RAIS Conference, February 19-20, 2018 006, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    4. Dalon Taylor, 2018. "Flipping the Script for Skilled Immigrant Women: What Suggestions Might Critical Social Work Offer?," RAIS Journal for Social Sciences, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, vol. 2(1), pages 1-11, May.
    5. Lilia Domínguez Villalobos & Mónica Laura Vázquez Maggio & Flor Brown Grossman, 2022. "Objective and Subjective Variables Behind the Working Conditions of Tertiary-Educated Mexican Migrants in the USA," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1063-1090, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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