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The Allocation of Immigrant Talent: Macroeconomic Implications for the U.S. and Across Countries

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Abstract

We quantify the labor market barriers that immigrants face, using an occupational choice model with native-born individuals and immigrants of multiple types subject to wedges that distort their allocations. We find sizable output gains from removing immigrant wedges in the U.S., representing 25% of immigrants' overall economic contribution, and that these wedges alter the impact of alternative immigration policies. We harmonize microdata across 19 economies and exploit cross-country variation in immigrant outcomes and estimated wedges to examine the drivers of differences in wedges and gains from their removal. Finally, we relate the estimated wedges with external cross-country measures of immigrant barriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Serdar Birinci & Fernando Leibovici & Kurt See, 2021. "The Allocation of Immigrant Talent: Macroeconomic Implications for the U.S. and Across Countries," Working Papers 2021-004, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 18 Sep 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:90705
    DOI: 10.20955/wp.2021.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrej Cupák & Pavel Ciaian & d'Artis Kancs, 2021. "Comparing the immigrant-native pay gap: A novel evidence from home and host countries," EERI Research Paper Series EERI RP 2021/05, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigration; occupational barriers; mobility; misallocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • 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

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