IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/acb/agenda/v15y2008i1p85-98.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Biggest Loser: Education and Skilled Immigration in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Peter E. Robertson

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that skilled immigration is most likely to achieve only small net welfare gains. Nevertheless, the distributional impact of skilled immigration is potentially large, despite the lack of attention paid it. The paper argues that the recent expansion of skilled immigrants may have led to a crowding out of domestic demand for education. Consequently, the expansion of skilled immigration may have contributed to the ‘big squeeze’ in Australian universities, rather than easing the mismatch problems in the labour market.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter E. Robertson, 2008. "The Biggest Loser: Education and Skilled Immigration in Australia," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 85-98.
    • Handle: RePEc:acb:agenda:v:15:y:2008:i:1:p:85-98
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p87341/pdf/15-1-AR-2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "Rethinking The Effect Of Immigration On Wages," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 9, pages 245-290, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Bob Birrell, 2003. "Immigration Policy And The Australian Labour Market," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 22(1), pages 36-45, March.
    3. McCulloch, Rachel & Yellen, Janet L., 1975. "Consequences of a tax on the brain drain for unemployment and income inequality in less developed countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 249-264, September.
    4. George J. Borjas, 2021. "The Economic Benefits from Immigration," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 13, pages 411-430, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Walmsley, Terrie L. & Winters, L. Alan, 2005. "Relaxing the Restrictions on the Temporary Movement of Natural Persons: A Simulation Analysis," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 20, pages 688-726.
    6. Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz, 2018. "The Labor Market Effects of Immigration in the United States and Europe: Substitution vs. Complementarity," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Francisco L Rivera-Batiz (ed.), International and Interregional Migration Theory and Evidence, chapter 4, pages 47-74, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Richard G. Harris & Peter E. Robertson, 2007. "The Dynamic Effects of Skilled Labour Targeting in Immigration Programs," Discussion Papers 2007-21, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    8. Shea, K. -L. & Woodfield, A. E., 1996. "Optimal immigration, education and growth in the long run," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-4), pages 495-506, May.
    9. Meredith Baker & Mark Wooden, 1992. "Immigration and Its Impact on the Incidence of Training in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 25(2), pages 39-53, April.
    10. George J. Borjas, 2021. "The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining The Impact Of Immigration On The Labor Market," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 9, pages 235-274, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Peter Karmel, 2001. "Public Policy and Higher Education," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 26(1_suppl), pages 123-143, August.
    12. James Giesecke & G.A.Meagher, 2006. "Modelling the Economic Impacts of Migration and Population Growth," Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre Working Papers g-157, Victoria University, Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre.
    13. Bruce Chapman & Glenn Withers, 2002. "Human Capital Accumulation: Education and Immigration," CEPR Discussion Papers 452, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    14. Bhagwati, Jagdish & Hamada, Koichi, 1974. "The brain drain, international integration of markets for professionals and unemployment : A theoretical analysis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 19-42, April.
    15. Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano & Giovanni Peri, 2016. "Rethinking The Effect Of Immigration On Wages," World Scientific Book Chapters,in: The Economics of International Migration, chapter 2, pages 35-80 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    16. Berry, R Albert & Soligo, Ronald, 1969. "Some Welfare Aspects of International Migration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(5), pages 778-794, Sept./Oct.
    17. repec:bla:ausecr:v:40:y:2007:i:3:p:292-299 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Hamilton, Bob & Whalley, John, 1984. "Efficiency and distributional implications of global restrictions on labour mobility : Calculations and policy implications," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 61-75.
    19. Paul W. Miller, 1999. "Immigration Policy and Immigrant Quality: The Australian Points System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 192-197, May.
    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. Simontini Das & Ajitava Raychaudhuri & Saikat Sinha Roy, 2012. "Immigration Versus Outsourcing: A Developing Country¡¯S View," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 109-138, June.

    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. Peter E. Robertson, 2007. "Reflections on Australia’s Skilled Migration Policy," Discussion Papers 2007-22, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    2. Gabriel Felbermayr & Wido Geis & Wilhelm Kohler, 2014. "Restrictive Immigration Policy in Germany: Pains and Gains Foregone?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: European Economic Integration, WTO Membership, Immigration and Offshoring, chapter 12, pages 395-419, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Christian Dustmann & Ian P. Preston, 2019. "Free Movement, Open Borders, and the Global Gains from Labor Mobility," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 783-808, August.
    4. Frédéric Docquier & Joël Machado & Khalid Sekkat, 2015. "Efficiency Gains from Liberalizing Labor Mobility," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(2), pages 303-346, April.
    5. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola von Berlepsch, 2012. "When migrants rule: the legacy of mass migration on economic development in the US," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1216, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2012.
    6. Clemens, Michael A. & Pritchett, Lant, 2019. "The new economic case for migration restrictions: An assessment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 153-164.
    7. Papageorgiou, Athanasios, 2018. "The Effect of Immigration on the Well-Being of Native Populations: Evidence from the United Kingdom," MPRA Paper 93045, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Clemens, Michael & Pritchett, Lant, 2016. "The New Case for Migration Restrictions: An Assessment," Working Paper Series rwp16-054, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    9. 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.
    10. Tushar Bharati & Adnan M. S. Fakir & Wina Yoman, 2024. "Internal Migration and Labor Market Outcomes in Indonesia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(2), pages 997-1040.
    11. Andrea Grabmayer & Andrea Hartmann & Maria Thalhammer, 2009. "Labour Mobility within the EU in the Context of Enlargement and the Functioning of the Transitional Arrangements," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 35641, March.
    12. Hanson, Gordon H., 2010. "International Migration and the Developing World," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4363-4414, Elsevier.
    13. Akira Yakita, 2021. "Is tightening immigration policy good for workers in the receiving economy?," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 975-991, October.
    14. David Card & Giovanni Peri, 2016. "Immigration Economics by George J. Borjas: A Review Essay," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1333-1349, December.
    15. Jens Ruhose, 2015. "Microeconometric Analyses on Economic Consequences of Selective Migration," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 61.
    16. Richard G. Harris & Peter E. Robertson, 2007. "The Dynamic Effects of Skilled Labour Targeting in Immigration Programs," Discussion Papers 2007-21, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    17. 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.
    18. Kellermann, Kersten & Schlag, Carsten-Henning, 2012. "Ausländerbeschäftigung in Liechtenstein: Fluch oder Segen?," KOFL Working Papers 12, Konjunkturforschungsstelle Liechtenstein (KOFL), Vaduz.
    19. Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Peri, Giovanni, 2008. "Immigration and National Wages: Clarifying the Theory and the Empirics," CEPR Discussion Papers 6916, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Udo Kreickemeier & Jens Wrona, 2017. "Two-Way Migration between Similar Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 182-206, January.

    More about this item

    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:acb:agenda:v:15:y:2008:i:1:p:85-98. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feanuau.html .

    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.