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Skill transferability and the earnings of immigrants

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  • Nick Manuel
  • Miana Plesca

Abstract

Using data on immigrants from the Canadian Census, we compare immigrants who received a bachelor's degree from a Canadian university to immigrants who receive a bachelor's degree in their home country, in order to investigate the returns to skills acquired in Canada versus skills acquired abroad. Our measure of skill is based on postsecondary fields of study linked to the O*NET matrix of skills and competencies. We find that immigrants educated in Canada receive higher returns to their communication skills than those educated abroad. To a lesser degree, they also receive higher returns to their logical and technical skills. These gaps in skill returns explain the entirety of Canadian‐educated immigrant's 10% earnings advantage. Our results are robust to controlling for the quality of universities in the immigrant's country of study and for occupation and industry choice. The gaps are stable across time and across quantiles of the immigrant earnings distribution. Transférabilité des compétences et revenus des immigrants. Á partir de données issues du recensement canadien, et afin de déterminer le rendement des compétences acquises au Canada par rapport à celles acquises à l’étranger, nous avons comparé le profil des immigrants titulaires d’un baccalauréat obtenu dans une université canadienne à celui des immigrants titulaires d’un diplôme équivalent délivré dans leur pays d’origine. Notre évaluation des compétences se fonde sur les domaines d’études postsecondaires liés à la base de données O*NET sur les aptitudes et les compétences. Comparativement aux immigrants ayant étudié à l’étranger, nous constatons que les immigrants ayant poursuivi leurs études au Canada possèdent de meilleures compétences en matière de communication et, dans une moindre mesure, de meilleures compétences logiques et techniques. Ces écarts de compétences suffisent à expliquer les 10 % de revenus supplémentaires que gagnent les immigrants ayant été scolarisés au Canada. Nos résultats sont robustes et tiennent compte de la qualité des universités situées dans les pays de scolarisation des immigrants ainsi que des choix en matière d’emploi et de secteur d’activité. Les écarts sont stables dans le temps et entre chaque quantile de distribution de revenus des immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Nick Manuel & Miana Plesca, 2020. "Skill transferability and the earnings of immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1404-1428, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:53:y:2020:i:4:p:1404-1428
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12473
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    1. Anthony Edo & Lionel Ragot & Hillel Rapoport & Sulin Sardoschau & Andreas Steinmayr & Arthur Sweetman, 2020. "An introduction to the economics of immigration in OECD countries," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1365-1403, November.

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