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Migrants' Skills and Productivity: A European Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Peter Huber ,
Michael Landesmann ,
Catherine Robinson  and
Robert Stehrer
Peter Huber
Affiliation:
Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO)
Michael Landesmann
Affiliation:
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw)
Catherine Robinson*
Affiliation:
WISERD and School of Business and Economics, Swansea University
Robert Stehrer
Affiliation:
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw)
*
E-mail: C.Robinson@swansea.ac.uk
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Abstract

The freedom of movement of persons is one of the core tenets of the European Union. Immigration however is often seen as a cause for concern amongst native workers, as rising labour supply may threaten jobs and create downward pressure on wages. National politicians are increasingly under pressure to guard against it — in times of recession particularly. Despite this, there is evidence that highly-skilled migrant labour has the potential to raise competitiveness significantly and in theory this may feed into productivity. In this paper, we explore first the composition of inward migration to the EU and within the EU, concentrating specifically on the role of the highly-skilled and the extent to which migrants are overqualified within their jobs. We then analyse whether migrant workers affect productivity at the sectoral level. We find under-utilisation of skilled foreign labour and there is little evidence in general to suggest that migrants have raised productivity which may in part be attributable to over-qualification. However, we find robust evidence that migrants — particularly highly-skilled migrants — play a positive role in productivity developments in industries which are classified as ‘skill intensive’.

Keywords

MigrationskillsproductivityEuropean UnionF22J61O15O52
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 213 , July 2010 , pp. R20 - R34
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

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Footnotes

This work is based on research carried out for the Commission project of CR2009. It was financed under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) which aims to encourage the competitiveness of European enterprises. The authors would like to thank Stephen Drinkwater for his advice and guidance in the preparation of this paper. Any errors remain the responsibility of the authors alone.

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