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

Andrew Clarke () and Mikal Skuterud

No 1404, Working Papers from University of Waterloo, Department of Economics

Abstract: We compare literacy skills and relative wage and employment outcomes of Australian, Canadian, and U.S. immigrants. We find substantially higher immigrant skill levels at the lower end of the distribution in Australia, especially among recent arrivals, but little difference at the top. In addition, we identify larger wage returns to immigrant skill in the U.S. whch we argue reflects language-skill complementarities. Our results suggest that the benefit of a point system lies in its potential to limit unskilled immigration, rather than in raising skills at the upper end of the distribution where the growth potential of immigration is likely greatest.

JEL-codes: J23 J31 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2014-07, Revised 2014-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Immigrant Skill Selection and Utilization: A Comparative Analysis of Australia, Canada, and the United States (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wat:wpaper:1404

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