E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Competitiveness

Competitiveness

Immigration represents an indispensible component of any strategy to boost economic growth and prosperity. Immigration policy can contribute directly to innovation, technological progress, and rising human-capital levels alongside investments in education and workforce-training systems, research and development, public infrastructure, and regulatory policies that effectively reduce barriers to employment. When done right, immigration policymaking offers employers access to the workers they require to build their firms' competitiveness and can increase availability of vital services.

Recent Activity

EVENT PH 2017.7.13 Demetrios Papademetriou
Multimedia
July 13, 2017
The International Migration System: Reflections on the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
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Articles
July 12, 2017
The Philippines: Beyond Labor Migration, Toward Development and (Possibly) Return
By Maruja M.B. Asis
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Commentaries
June 2017
Immigrants and the New Brain Gain: Ways to Leverage Rising Educational Attainment
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States
Fact Sheets
June 2017
New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
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Articles
March 28, 2017
As Its Population Ages, Japan Quietly Turns to Immigration
By David Green
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Reports
March 2017
The Long Road Ahead: Status Report on the Implementation of the ASEAN MRAs on Professional Services
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Guntur Sugiyarto
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Articles
March 1, 2017
South Korea Carefully Tests the Waters on Immigration, With a Focus on Temporary Workers
By Young-bum Park
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Reports
February 2017
Unlocking Skills: Successful Initiatives for Integrating Foreign-Trained Immigrant Professionals
By  Margie McHugh and Madeleine Morawski

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Reports
July 2014
Giving Cities and Regions a Voice in Immigration Policy: Can National Policies Meet Local Demand?
By  Madeleine Sumption
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Reports
July 2014
Migration’s Local Dividends: How Cities and Regions Can Make the Most of Immigration (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
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Reports
June 2014
Critical Choices in Post-Recession California: Investing in the Educational and Career Success of Immigrant Youth
By  Sarah Hooker, Margie McHugh and Michael Fix
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Reports
October 2013
Maximizing Potential: How Countries Can Address Skills Deficits within the Immigrant Workforce
By  Meghan Benton
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Reports
September 2013
Attracting and Selecting from the Global Talent Pool — Policy Challenges
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
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Reports
August 2013
Pensando Regionalmente para Competir Globalmente: Aprovechar la Migración y el Capital Humano en Estados Unidos, México y Centroamérica
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner and Eleanor Sohnen
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Policy Briefs
June 2013
Remaking the U.S. Green Card System: Legal Immigration under the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013
By  Madeleine Sumption and Claire Bergeron
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Reports
May 2013
Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner and Eleanor Sohnen

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Recent Activity

Reports
July 2019

Start-Up Visas: A Passport for Innovation and Growth?

Over the last decade, a number of governments have launched start-up visa programs in the hopes of attracting talented immigrant entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas. With the track record for these programs a mixed one, this report explains how embedding start-up visas within a broader innovation strategy could lead to greater success.

Articles
May 30, 2019

“Merit-Based” Immigration: Trump Proposal Would Dramatically Revamp Immigrant Selection Criteria, But with Modest Effects on Numbers

The Trump administration’s plan to create a "merit-based" U.S. immigration system, lessening the longstanding focus on family reunification in favor of more economic migrants, has met with a lackluster response from Democrats and Republicans alike. This Policy Beat article explores how the Trump proposal would reshape immigration to the United States, and how it compares to selection systems in other countries and past debates about changing the U.S. system.

Video, Audio
May 17, 2019

"Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems

With the U.S. administration calling for the United States to adopt a more “merit-based” immigrant selection system, this conversation focused on what policymakers should consider in designing—and managing—immigrant selection systems in a time of intense labor-market and demographic change.

Fact Sheets
May 2019

A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States

U.S. debates about immigration from Mexico often center on the low skilled, but this analysis shows a population in change. Nearly one in five Mexican immigrants arriving between 2013-17 had a college degree, compared to slightly more than 1 in 20 during the 1996-2000 period. Mexicans now make up the fourth-largest group of highly skilled immigrants. This fact sheet explores their characteristics at U.S. and Texas levels.

Articles
May 8, 2019

Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results

Faced with high emigration rates and shrinking, aging populations, the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—are exploring different ways to lure back nationals who have emigrated and establish or solidify ties with members of the diaspora. Of the three countries, Estonia is proving the most successful, while Latvia appears to be ignoring the looming demographic crisis and lacks an immigration plan.

Reports
April 2019

The Canadian Express Entry System for Selecting Economic Immigrants: Progress and Persistent Challenges

Since its launch in 2015, the Express Entry system has changed how economic immigration to Canada happens and how it fits into public and political debates. And while it has proven successful in cutting through application backlogs, some challenges remain. This report looks at how and why this points-based system was introduced, what its impact has been, and how it could be further finetuned.

Reports
April 2019

Competing Approaches to Selecting Economic Immigrants: Points-Based vs. Demand-Driven Systems

National systems for selecting skilled foreign workers have evolved in two directions: Points-based systems in which governments select economic immigrants based on labor and human-capital considerations and demand-driven ones that rely heavily on employer involvement. This report explores these two models—and their convergence—and offers tips for designing selection systems that are flexible, transparent, and effective.

Fact Sheets
March 2019

Immigrant-Origin Adults without Postsecondary Credentials: A 50-State Profile

With immigrants and their U.S.-born children poised to be the main source of labor-force growth, these adults are an important target for efforts to build the skills of the U.S. workforce to meet the knowledge-based economy of tomorrow. This fact sheet and state data snapshots explore the characteristics of adults without an academic degree or professional credential, by immigrant generation, race/ethnicity, and more.

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