The trade effects of skilled versus unskilled migration
Peter Egger
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Maximilian von Ehrlich
Diskussionsschriften from Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft - CRED
Abstract:
In this paper, we assess the role of skilled versus unskilled migration for bilateral trade in a flexible econometric model. Using a large data-set on bilateral skill-specific migration and a flexible novel identification strategy, the functionally flexible impact of different levels of skilled and unskilled immigration on the volume and structure of bilateral imports is identified in a quasi-experimental design. We find evidence of a polarized impact of skillspecific immigration on imports: highly concentrated skilled or unskilled immigrants induce higher import volumes than a balanced composition of the immigrant base. This effect turns out particularly important when institutions are weak. Regarding the structure of imports, we observe that skilled immigrants specifically add to imports in differentiated goods. Both bits of evidence are consistent with a segregation of skill-specific immigrant networks and corresponding trade patterns.
Keywords: Skilled vs. unskilled immigration; Migrant networks; Bilateral trade; Quasirandomized experiments; Generalized propensity score estimation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C14 C21 F14 F22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-int and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)
Downloads: (external link)
https://repec.vwiit.ch/cred/CREDResearchPaper31.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
Journal Article: The trade effects of skilled versus unskilled migration (2020) 
Working Paper: The Trade Effects of Skilled versus Unskilled Migration (2012) 
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rdv:wpaper:credresearchpaper31
Access Statistics for this paper
More papers in Diskussionsschriften from Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft - CRED Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Franz Koelliker ().