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Immigrant Skill Selection and Utilization: A Comparative Analysis of Australia, Canada, and the United States

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  • Clarke, Andrew
  • Skuterud, Mikal

Abstract

We compare literacy test scores and relative wage and employment outcomes of Australian, Canadian and U.S. immigrants using the 2003/2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS). We find substantially higher immigrant skill levels at the lower end of the distribution in Australia, especially among recent arrivals, but little difference across countries at the top. In addition, we identify substantially larger wage returns to immigrant skill in the U.S., which we argue reflects language-skill complementarities, as opposed to more efficient skill utilization or unobserved productivity characteristics. Our results suggest that the benefit of a point system for the U.S. lies in its potential to limit unskilled immigration flows, rather than in raising skills at the top end of the distribution where the economic growth potential of immigration is likely greatest.

Suggested Citation

  • Clarke, Andrew & Skuterud, Mikal, 2014. "Immigrant Skill Selection and Utilization: A Comparative Analysis of Australia, Canada, and the United States," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2014-41, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 22 Sep 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2014-41
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    Cited by:

    1. Cahit Guven & Asadul Islam, 2015. "Age at Migration, Language Proficiency, and Socioeconomic Outcomes: Evidence From Australia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(2), pages 513-542, April.
    2. Şerife Genç İleri, 2019. "Selective immigration policy and its impacts on Canada's native‐born population: A general equilibrium analysis," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(3), pages 954-992, August.
    3. Dalon Taylor, 2018. "Flipping the Script for Skilled Immigrant Women: What Suggestions Might Critical Social Work Offer?," Proceedings of the 7th International RAIS Conference, February 19-20, 2018 006, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    4. Dalon Taylor, 2018. "Flipping the Script for Skilled Immigrant Women: What Suggestions Might Critical Social Work Offer?," RAIS Journal for Social Sciences, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, vol. 2(1), pages 1-11, May.
    5. Lilia Domínguez Villalobos & Mónica Laura Vázquez Maggio & Flor Brown Grossman, 2022. "Objective and Subjective Variables Behind the Working Conditions of Tertiary-Educated Mexican Migrants in the USA," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1063-1090, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigrant workers; labour market integration; immigrant selection policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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