The trade effects of skilled versus unskilled migration

Egger, Peter H.; v. Ehrlich, Maximilian; Nelson, Douglas R. (January 2020). The trade effects of skilled versus unskilled migration (CRED Research Paper 31). Bern: CRED - Center for Regional Economic Development

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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.

Item Type:

Working Paper

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Economics
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Economics > Institute of Economics > Economic Policy and Regional Economics
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Economics > Institute of Economics
11 Centers of Competence > Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED)

UniBE Contributor:

v. Ehrlich, Maximilian

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 330 Economics

Series:

CRED Research Paper

Publisher:

CRED - Center for Regional Economic Development

Language:

English

Submitter:

Melanie Moser

Date Deposited:

06 May 2021 09:09

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:50

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Skilled vs. unskilled immigration, Migrant networks, Bilateral trade, Quasirandomized experiments, Generalized propensity score estimation.

JEL Classification:

C14, C21, F14, F22

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/154796

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/154796

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