IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecr/v55y2022i2p273-280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Refugees are a Valuable but Overlooked Economic Resource, and it is Time to Update Our Approach to Migration

Author

Listed:
  • Sally Baker
  • Stephanie Cousins
  • Claire Higgins
  • Massimiliano Tani

Abstract

The view that welcoming refugees represents a cost to a country's welfare services has become anachronistic; nowadays refugees are increasingly recognised for their high levels of education and skills, and their ability to make an economic contribution to a host country. Yet, most states' approach to migration management prevents displaced people from migrating based on the human capital that they can supply. Australia is trialling a new approach that enables refugees to access skilled migration through employer sponsorship. This article describes the pilot project and suggests ways to encourage employers to view refugees as a valuable solution to workforce shortages.

Suggested Citation

  • Sally Baker & Stephanie Cousins & Claire Higgins & Massimiliano Tani, 2022. "Refugees are a Valuable but Overlooked Economic Resource, and it is Time to Update Our Approach to Migration," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 55(2), pages 273-280, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:55:y:2022:i:2:p:273-280
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12467
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12467
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8462.12467?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pope, David & Withers, Glenn, 1993. "Do Migrants Rob Jobs? Lessons of Australian History, 1861–1991," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 719-742, December.
    2. Heather Antecol & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Stephen J. Trejo, 2003. "Immigration Policy and the Skills of Immigrants to Australia, Canada, and the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(1).
    3. Tani, Massimiliano, 2017. "Local signals and the returns to foreign education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 174-190.
    4. Zhiming Cheng & Ben Zhe Wang & Lucy Taksa, 2021. "Labour Force Participation and Employment of Humanitarian Migrants: Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 697-720, February.
    5. Mirko Guaralda & Greg Hearn & Marcus Foth & Tan Yigitcanlar & Severine Mayere & Lisa Law, 2020. "Towards Australian Regional Turnaround: Insights into Sustainably Accommodating Post-Pandemic Urban Growth in Regional Towns and Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Tani, Massimiliano, 2018. "Selective immigration policies, occupational licensing, and the quality of migrants’ education-occupation match," GLO Discussion Paper Series 206, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. 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.
    3. Tani, Massimiliano, 2018. "Selective Immigration, Occupational Licensing, and Labour Market Outcomes of Foreign-Trained Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 11370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Jaai Parasnis, 2010. "Estimating The Relationship Between Immigrant And Native Workers In Australia: A Production Theory Approach," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 73-85, March.
    5. Rickard Sandell, 2008. "A Social Network Approach to Spanish Immigration: An Analysis of Immigration into Spain 1998-2006," Working Papers 2008-33, FEDEA.
    6. Simone Bertoli & Hillel Rapoport, 2015. "Heaven's Swing Door: Endogenous Skills, Migration Networks, and the Effectiveness of Quality-Selective Immigration Policies," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(2), pages 565-591, April.
    7. Delaney, Judith M. & Devereux, Paul J., 2019. "Understanding gender differences in STEM: Evidence from college applications✰," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 219-238.
    8. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2010. "The Effects of School Quality in the Origin on the Payoff to Schooling for Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 5075, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Abdeslam Marfouk, 2007. "Brain Drain in Developing Countries," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 193-218, June.
    10. Mathias Sinning, 2007. "Wealth and Asset Holdings of Immigrants in Germany," Ruhr Economic Papers 0030, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Nejad, Maryam Naghsh & Schurer, Stefanie, 2022. "Cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of immigrants: New perspectives on migrant quality from a selective immigration country," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 107-124.
    12. Ranabahu, Nadeera & de Vries, Huibert P. & Basharati, Zhiyan, 2025. "Refugees’ employment: Adapting a structural inequality framework for multinational corporations," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(1).
    13. Partridge, Jamie & Furtan, William Hartley, 2008. "Increasing Canada's International Competitiveness: Is There a Link between Skilled Immigrants and Innovation?," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6504, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. Bertoli, Simone & Dequiedt, Vianney & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Can selective immigration policies reduce migrants' quality?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 100-109.
    15. Tommaso Frattini, 2017. "Integration of immigrants in host countries - what we know and what works," Development Working Papers 427, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    16. d’Albis, Hippolyte & Boubtane, Ekrame & Coulibaly, Dramane, 2019. "Immigration and public finances in OECD countries," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 116-151.
    17. Tani, Massimiliano, 2020. "The labour market for native and international PhD students: similarities, differences, and the role of (university) employers," GLO Discussion Paper Series 621, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Cosimo Beverelli & Gianluca Orefice & Nadia Rocha, 2016. "The Impact of Offshoring and Migration Policies on Migration Flows," Working Papers 2016-21, CEPII research center.
    19. Karadja, Mounir & Sundberg, Anton, 2023. "The labor market impact of a taxi driver’s license," Working Paper Series 2023:6, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    20. Ludolph, Lars, 2023. "The value of formal host-country education for the labour market position of refugees: evidence from Austria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117392, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    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:bla:ausecr:v:55:y:2022:i:2:p:273-280. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.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.