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Skills and Talent of Immigrants:A Comparison between the European Union and the United States

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  • Giovanni Peri

    (Department of Economics, University of California Davis)

Abstract

The nineties has been a period of increasing migratory flows from lessdeveloped countries to industrialized nations. It is instructive to compare the two largesteconomies in the world, the European Union and the United States, in terms of themagnitude, trends and composition of their migratory inflows. While the two economiesare similar in terms of size and level of development, the European Union still lagsbehind in its ability to attract immigrants and in the degree of internal mobility of itscitizens. Moreover we document a general feature that became more prominent duringthe nineties. While both economies attracted less educated workers (primary schoolgraduates) as well as highly educated workers (college graduates) from less developedcountries, the United States have been able to attract ?talent?,( i.e. the best among theskilled workers) from all over the world at a rate unmatched by the European Union. Infact the US attracted a large number of talents from the European Union itself during thenineties. This ?brain drain? (probably driven by the large economic reward granted bythe American economy to scientific, technological and professional talent) is worrisomefor the European Union. Its ability to keep pace with the economic growth of the UnitedStates depends, in fact, on its ability to compete in the scientific and technological fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Peri, 2005. "Skills and Talent of Immigrants:A Comparison between the European Union and the United States," Working Papers 19, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:cda:wpaper:19
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lumpe, Claudia, 2017. "Public beliefs in social mobility and high-skilled migration," Ruhr Economic Papers 691, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Michael Storper, 2007. "The geographical processes behind innovation: A Europe-United States comparative analysis," Working Papers 2007-13, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales.
    3. Claudia Lumpe, 2019. "Public beliefs in social mobility and high-skilled migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 981-1008, July.
    4. Ceren Ozgen & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2012. "Immigration and innovation in European regions," Chapters, in: Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot & Mediha Sahin (ed.), Migration Impact Assessment, chapter 8, pages 261-298, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Lumpe, Christian & Lumpe, Claudia & Meckl, Jürgen, 2016. "Social status and public expectations: Self-selection of high-skilled migrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 614, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Christian Reiner, 2010. "Brain competition policy as a new paradigm of regional policy: A European perspective," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(2), pages 449-461, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    growth; migration; union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • 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
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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