July 2014

IZA DP No. 8326: Skilled Immigrants' Contribution to Productive Efficiency

published in Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 2015, 20, 594–612

This paper studies whether skilled migrants contribute to the host country's 'productive efficiency' (Farrell, 1957) using input-output and immigration sectoral data for seven industries in twelve countries during the period 1999-2001. We find that skilled migrants contribute positively to a country's productive efficiency with the exception of the finance sector. The results broadly support the adoption of skill-biased migration policies.