IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/izamig/v6y2017i1d10.1186_s40176-016-0075-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prior host-country work experience and immigrant labor market outcomes: evidence from Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Manish Pandey

    (University of Winnipeg)

  • James Townsend

    (University of Winnipeg)

Abstract

Recent changes to immigration selection policies favor skilled workers with prior work experience in the immigrant host country. Using unique administrative tax data for Canada, we estimate earnings equations to quantify the difference in earnings of immigrants with prior Canadian experience (prefilers) and those without prior experience (non-prefilers). We find that, relative to non-prefilers, entry earnings are higher for prefilers and, for male immigrants, this earnings advantage persists for at least 20 years after arrival. We show that the primary source of the higher entry earnings of prefilers is a higher return to foreign experience. In addition, the prefiler earnings advantage is largest for university graduates and the return to foreign experience is higher for prefilers from Western countries than those from the rest of the world. Our findings suggest that a move towards an immigrant selection system which uses previous host-country work experience as a criterion will improve the labor market performance of immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:6:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-016-0075-x
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-016-0075-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40176-016-0075-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s40176-016-0075-x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Neeraj Kaushal & Yao Lu & Nicole Denier & Julia Shu-Huah Wang & Stephen J. Trejo, 2016. "Immigrant employment and earnings growth in Canada and the USA: evidence from longitudinal data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 1249-1277, October.
    3. Michèle V. K. Belot & Timothy J. Hatton, 2012. "Immigrant Selection in the OECD," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(4), pages 1105-1128, December.
    4. Bertoli, Simone & Dequiedt, Vianney & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Can selective immigration policies reduce migrants' quality?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 100-109.
    5. 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/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(4), pages 1431-1462, November.
    6. Kahanec, Martin & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2010. "High-Skilled Immigration Policy in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 5399, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Green, David A. & Worswick, Christopher, 2012. "Immigrant earnings profiles in the presence of human capital investment: Measuring cohort and macro effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 241-259.
    8. Noel Gaston & Douglas R. Nelson, 2013. "Bridging Trade Theory And Labour Econometrics: The Effects Of International Migration," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 98-139, February.
    9. Hou, Feng & Bonikowska, Aneta, 2015. "The Earnings Advantage of Landed Immigrants Who Were Previously Temporary Residents in Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2015370e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    10. Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2011. "Immigrant selection and short-term labor market outcomes by visa category," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 451-475, April.
    11. Arthur Sweetman & Casey Warman, 2014. "Former Temporary Foreign Workers and International Students as Sources of Permanent Immigration," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 40(4), pages 392-407, December.
    12. Abdurrahman Aydemir & Mikal Skuterud, 2005. "Explaining the deteriorating entry earnings of Canada's immigrant cohorts, 1966 - 2000," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 641-672, May.
    13. Justin van de Ven & Sarah Voitchovsky, 2015. "Skilled migrants and labour market integration: how important is the selection process?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-28, December.
    14. Yuri Ostrovsky, 2012. "The dynamics of immigrant participation in entitlement programs: evidence from Canada, 1993-2007," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(1), pages 107-136, February.
    15. Garnett Picot & Patrizio Piraino, 2013. "Immigrant earnings growth: selection bias or real progress?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1510-1536, November.
    16. Facchini, Giovanni & Lodigiani, Elisabetta, 2014. "Attracting Skilled Immigrants: An Overview of Recent Policy Developments in Advanced Countries," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 229, pages 3-21, August.
    17. Serge Coulombe & Robin Boadway & Michel Beine, 2016. "Moving Parts: Immigration Policy, Internal Migration and Natural Resource Shocks," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 446, March.
    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. Boll, Christina & Lagemann, Andreas, 2021. "On the right track? The role of work experience in migrant mothers' current employment probability," HWWI Research Papers 196, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    2. Peter Haan & Martin Kroh & Kent Troutman, 2017. "Employment and Human Capital Investment Intentions among Recent Refugees in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 937, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Peter Haan & Martin Kroh & Kent Troutman, 2017. "Employment and Human Capital Investment Intentions among Recent Refugees in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1692, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    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. Susumu Imai & Derek Stacey & Casey Warman, 2019. "From engineer to taxi driver? Language proficiency and the occupational skills of immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(3), pages 914-953, August.
    2. Mariele Macaluso, 2022. "The influence of skill-based policies on the immigrant selection process," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 595-621, July.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Massimiliano Tani, 2018. "Using a Points System for Selecting Immigrants," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(01), pages 08-13, May.
    6. Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2013. "Skill-based immigrant selection and labor market outcomes by visa category," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 23, pages 432-452, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. 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.
    8. Arthur Sweetman & Casey Warman, 2013. "Canada's Immigration Selection System and Labour Market Outcomes," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 39(s1), pages 141-160, May.
    9. Bertoli, Simone & Stillman, Steven, 2019. "All that glitters is not gold: Wages and education for US immigrants," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Casey Warman & Matthew D. Webb & Christopher Worswick, 2019. "Immigrant category of admission and the earnings of adults and children: how far does the apple fall?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 53-112, January.
    11. Casey Warman & Christopher Worswick, 2015. "Technological change, occupational tasks and declining immigrant outcomes: Implications for earnings and income inequality in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(2), pages 736-772, May.
    12. Ibrahim Bousmah & Gilles Grenier, 2022. "Labor shortages and immigration: The case of the Canadian agriculture sector," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 220-235, January.
    13. repec:ces:ifodic:v:16:y:2018:i:1:p:50000000001952 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Spitzer, Yannay & Zimran, Ariell, 2018. "Migrant self-selection: Anthropometric evidence from the mass migration of Italians to the United States, 1907–1925," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 226-247.
    15. Tani, Massimiliano, 2017. "Skilled Migration Policy and the Labour Market Performance of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 11241, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Bertoli, Simone & Dequiedt, Vianney & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Can selective immigration policies reduce migrants' quality?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 100-109.
    17. Jaeger, David & Duleep, Harriet Orcutt & McHenry, Peter, 2021. "On Immigration and Native Entrepreneurship," CEPR Discussion Papers 15920, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Chakraborty Tanika & Pandey Manish, 2022. "Temporary international migration, shocks and informal finance: analysis using panel data," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.
    19. Mikal Skuterud, 2010. "The visible minority earnings gap across generations of Canadians," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 860-881, August.
    20. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    21. Blit, Joel & Skuterud, Mikal & Zhang, Jue, 2017. "Immigration and Innovation: Evidence from Canadian Cities," IZA Discussion Papers 10689, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigrant selection; Earnings; Foreign experience returns; Canada;
    All these keywords.

    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

    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:izamig:v:6:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-016-0075-x. 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.