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Why do immigrant workers in Australia perform better than those in Canada? Is it the immigrants or their labour markets?

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  • Andrew Clarke
  • Mikal Skuterud

Abstract

Research comparing the labour market performance of recent cohorts of immigrants to Australia and Canada points to superior employment and earnings outcomes in Australia. Examining Australian and Canadian Census data between 1986 and 2006, we find that this performance advantage is not driven by differences in broader labour market conditions affecting all new labour market entrants. Rather, the results from comparing immigrants from a common source country either the U.K., India, or China suggest that Australian immigrants perform better, particularly in average earnings, primarily because of a different source country distribution. Moreover, the recent tightening of Australian selection policy, most notably its use of mandatory premigration Englishlanguage testing, appears to be having an effect, primarily by further shifting the source country distribution of immigrants away from nonEnglishspeaking source countries, rather than in identifying higherquality migrants within source countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Clarke & Mikal Skuterud, 2013. "Why do immigrant workers in Australia perform better than those in Canada? Is it the immigrants or their labour markets?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1431-1462, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:46:y:2013:i:4:p:1431-1462
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12059
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Joel Blit & Mikal Skuterud & Jue Zhang, "undated". "The impact of patent protection on R&D. Evidence using export markets," Working Papers 17011, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics.
    2. Ha Trong Nguyen & Alan Duncan, 2015. "Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Home Countries and Immigrants’ Wellbeing: New Evidence from Down Under," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Working Paper series WP1502, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
    3. Joxhe, Majlinda & Scaramozzino, Pasquale & Zanaj, Skerdilajda, 2021. "Fiscal Position of Immigrants in Europe: A Quantile Regression Approach," GLO Discussion Paper Series 758, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Jeff Borland & Michael Coelli, 2016. "Labour Market Inequality in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(299), pages 517-547, December.
    5. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Duncan, Alan S, 2017. "Exchange rate fluctuations and immigrants' labour market outcomes: New evidence from Australian household panel data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 174-186.
    6. Ana Ferrer & Mikal Skuterud & Andrew Clarke, 2018. "A Comparative Analysis of the Labour Market Performance of University-Educated Immigrants in Australia, Canada, and the United States," Working Papers 1807, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised 02 Jan 2018.
    7. Blit, Joel & Skuterud, Mikal & Zhang, Jue, 2017. "Immigration and innovation: Evidence from Canadian cities," CLEF Working Paper Series 12, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    8. Andrew Clarke & Ana Ferrer & Mikal Skuterud, 2019. "A Comparative Analysis of the Labor Market Performance of University-Educated Immigrants in Australia, Canada, and the United States: Does Policy Matter?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(S2), pages 443-490.
    9. Holger Hinte, 2014. "What determines the net fiscal effects of migration?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-78, June.
    10. Andrew Clarke & Mikal Skuterud, 2016. "A comparative analysis of immigrant skills and their utilization in Australia, Canada, and the USA," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 849-882, July.
    11. David A. Green & Christopher Worswick, 2017. "Canadian economics research on immigration through the lens of theories of justice," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1262-1303, December.
    12. 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.
    13. Samuel Vézina & Alain Bélanger, 2020. "Literacy Skills as an Explanation for Labor Market Imbalances by Occupational Type in Canada: Microsimulation Projections for 2014–2024," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(6), pages 1019-1049, December.
    14. Blit, Joel & Skuterud, Mikal & Zhang, Ruiwen, 2024. "The potential of Canada's international student strategy: Evidence from the "MIT of the north"," CLEF Working Paper Series 74, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    15. Matthew Doyle & Mikal Skuterud & Christopher Worswick, 2025. "The economics of Canadian immigration levels," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(1), pages 109-135, February.
    16. Majlinda Joxhe & Pasquale Scaramozzino & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2024. "The Public Finance Position of Immigrants in Europe: A Quantile Regression Approach," Public Finance Review, , vol. 52(2), pages 182-221, March.
    17. Manish Pandey & James Townsend, 2017. "Prior host-country work experience and immigrant labor market outcomes: evidence from Canada," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, December.

    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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