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Does Immigration Policy Affect the Education-Occupation Mismatch? Evidence from Australia

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  • Tani, Massimiliano

    (University of New South Wales)

Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of a change in Australia's immigration policy, introduced on 1st July 1999, on migrants' probability of being over-/under-educated or correctly matched. The policy change consists of stricter entry requirements about age, language ability, education, and work experience. The results indicate that those who entered under more stringent conditions – the second cohort – have a lower probability to be overeducated and a correspondingly higher probability of being better matched than those in the first cohort. The policy change appears to have reduced the incidence of over-education among women, enhanced the relevance of being educated in Australia to be correctly matched, and attracted a higher proportion of immigrants that were already under-utilised (or over-achieving) in their home countries. Overall, the policy appears to have brought immigrants that reduced the over-under-education of Australia's labour market.

Suggested Citation

  • Tani, Massimiliano, 2012. "Does Immigration Policy Affect the Education-Occupation Mismatch? Evidence from Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 6937, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6937
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    Cited by:

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    2. Theo Sparreboom & Alexander Tarvid, 2016. "Imbalanced Job Polarization and Skills Mismatch in Europe," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(1), pages 15-42, July.
    3. Ameed Saabneh & Rebbeca Tesfai, 2021. "Does Immigrant Selection Policy Matter? Labor Market Integration of Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel and the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 955-985, October.
    4. Sheruni De Alwis & Nick Parr & Fei Guo, 2020. "The Education–Occupation (Mis)Match of Asia-Born Immigrants in Australia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(3), pages 519-548, June.
    5. Rennie Lee & Laxman Bablani, 2023. "Do Asian Immigrants Have Better Mental Health? An Examination of Arrival Cohort and Gender in Australia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(3), pages 1-29, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    over- and under-education; immigration policy; migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C34 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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