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The economic impact of migration: productivity analysis for Spain and the UK

Mari Kangasniemi, Matilde Mas, Catherine Robinson, Lorenzo Serrano

Journal of Productivity Analysis, Volume: 38, Issue: 3, Pages: 333 - 343

Swansea University Author: Catherine Robinson

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Abstract

<p>Over the past 20 years labour has become increasingly mobile and whilst employment and earnings effects in host countries have been extensively analysed, the implications for firm and industry performance have received far less attention.&nbsp; This paper explores the direct economic co...

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Published in: Journal of Productivity Analysis
ISSN: 0895-562X 1573-0441
Published: Springer 2012
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa6875
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Abstract: <p>Over the past 20 years labour has become increasingly mobile and whilst employment and earnings effects in host countries have been extensively analysed, the implications for firm and industry performance have received far less attention.&nbsp; This paper explores the direct economic consequences of immigration on host nations&rsquo; productivity performance at a sectoral level in two very different European countries, Spain and the UK. Whilst the UK has traditionally seen substantial immigration, for Spain the phenomenon is much more recent. Our findings from a growth accounting analysis show that migration has made a negative contribution to labour productivity growth in Spain and a negative but negligible contribution in the UK, the difference being driven by a positive impact from migrant labour quality in the UK. This finding broadly holds across all sectors, but we note considerable variation in magnitudes.&nbsp; Labour productivity growth has a neutral contribution from migrant labour in Construction and Personal services in the UK, whilst in every case in Spain the effect is negative, most strongly in Agriculture. Using production function estimation we observe a positive long term effect on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) from migrant workers in the UK and a negative effect in Spain. Our findings suggest that either the UK is better at assimilating migrants or is more selective in terms of who is permitted to migrate.</p>
Item Description: available online first
Keywords: migration, productivity, growth accounting, production function
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issue: 3
Start Page: 333
End Page: 343