The Gravity of High-Skilled Migration Policies

Area of Science:

• Economics
• Sociology
• Public Policy

Background:

• Attracting and selecting high-skilled immigrants is a key policy goal for many OECD countries.
• Existing research often lacks cross-country comparative data on policy effectiveness.
• Understanding the impact of various immigration policies on labor flows is crucial for economic development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct the first cross-country assessment of policies designed to attract and select high-skilled workers.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of different policy instruments on high-skilled labor immigration.
• To analyze the impact of policies on the human capital content of immigrant flows.

Main Methods:

• Utilized unique, annual, bilateral data on labor flows of highly skilled immigrants for 10 OECD destinations (2000-2012).
• Integrated new databases on unilateral and bilateral policy instruments.
• Employed robust empirical specifications accounting for destination amenities, migration resistance, and policy endogeneity.

Main Results:

• Points-based systems are significantly more effective than job offers, labor market tests, or shortage lists for attracting and selecting high-skilled migrants.
• Permanent residency offers attract highly skilled workers but decrease the overall human capital content of flows by attracting more non-high-skilled workers.
• Bilateral diploma recognition and social security agreements increase high-skilled worker flows and improve skill selectivity.
• Double taxation agreements deter high-skilled migrants without altering overall skill selectivity.

Conclusions:

• Policy design critically influences the attraction and selection of high-skilled immigrants.
• Points-based systems and bilateral agreements are effective tools for enhancing skilled labor immigration.
• Careful consideration of policy details, such as permanent residency offers, is needed to maximize human capital benefits.