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.

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Multimedia March 8, 2019 Upskilling the U.S. Labor Force: Mapping the Credentials of Immigrant-Origin Workers	Reports March 2019 Credentials for the Future: Mapping the Potential for Immigrant-Origin Adults in the United States By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Articles December 6, 2018 Sweden: By Turns Welcoming and Restrictive in its Immigration Policy By Admir Skodo	Policy Briefs September 2018 Reimagining Skilled Migration Partnerships to Support Development By Kate Hooper
Reports August 2018 Tapping the Talents of Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States: Takeaways from Experts Summit By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Multimedia June 5, 2018 Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together
Books June 2018 Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together By Andrew Selee	Commentaries September 2017 All Eyes Turn to Congress, Following Trump Decision to Terminate DACA Program By Julia Gelatt

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Reports November 2015 The Southeast Asia-Australia Regional Migration System: Some Insights into the “New Emigration” By Graeme Hugo , Janet Wall and Margaret Young	Policy Briefs December 2014 A ‘Freer’ Flow of Skilled Labour within ASEAN: Aspirations, Opportunities, and Challenges in 2015 and Beyond By Guntur Sugiyarto and Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
Reports October 2014 Selling Visas and Citizenship: Policy Questions from the Global Boom in Investor Immigration By Madeleine Sumption and Kate Hooper	Reports September 2014 Rotterdam: A Long-Time Port of Call and Home to Immigrants By Han Entzinger and Godfried Engbersen
Reports August 2014 The City Brand: Champion of Immigrant Integration or Empty Marketing Tool? By Elizabeth Collett	Reports August 2014 Policies to Support Immigrant Entrepreneurship By Maria Vincenza Desiderio
Reports August 2014 The Human-Capital Needs of Tech City, London By Max Nathan	Reports August 2014 Revitalizing Detroit: Is There a Role for Immigration? By Steve Tobocman

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Video, Audio

December 2, 2009

Illegal Immigration's Effects on the U.S. Economy and Policy

Illegal immigration's overall impact on the U.S. economy is negligible, despite clear benefits for employers and unauthorized immigrants and slightly depressed wages for low-skilled native workers, according to UCSD Professor of Economics Gordon Hanson.

Video

October 28, 2009

Talent, Competitiveness, and Migration

This book release and discussion focused on the accumulation of talent and its effects on economic growth and migration trends.

Recent Activity

Reports

February 2017

Firing Up Regional Brain Networks: The Promise of Brain Circulation in the ASEAN Economic Community

Given diverging demographics, rising educational attainment and wide variation in economic opportunities, countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are poised to see an expansion of both the demand for and supply of skilled migrants willing and able to move. The convergence of these megatrends represents unique opportunities for human-capital development and brain circulation, as this report explores.

Reports

February 2017

Reinventing Mutual Recognition Arrangements: Lessons from International Experiences and Insights for the ASEAN Region

As Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States work to facilitate the movement of professionals, the experiences of other countries hold promise for policymakers and licensing bodies in Southeast Asia as they deepen implementation of mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) that seek to establish a uniform and transparent way of recognizing the qualifications of foreign workers. This report offers key lessons.

Reports

January 2017

Open Windows, Closed Doors: Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Professional Services in the ASEAN Region

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States have approved Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) in the tourism sector and in six regulated occupations to ease the movement of professionals within the region. This report compares the approaches taken to facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications within the region, the factors that shaped each MRA approach, and their tradeoffs and policy implications.

Articles

January 4, 2017

To Stay or Not To Stay: The Calculus for International STEM Students in the United States

More than 1 million international students were in the United States in 2015-16, a significant share of them in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields. While countries increasingly are vying for this population, these individuals face a complex choice upon graduation: to stay or leave? This article examines international STEM students in the United States and the motivations underlying their postgraduation plans.

Video, Expert Q&A

December 6, 2016

Brain Waste: Researchers Discuss Economic Costs of Skill Underutilization among Highly Skilled Immigrants

Nearly 2 million college-educated immigrants in the United States are stuck in low-skilled jobs or are unemployed—a phenomenon known as brain waste. In this brief video, MPI researchers discuss their key findings on immigrant skill underutilization and the resulting billions of dollars in unrealized wages and forgone federal, state, and local tax receipts.

Articles

December 6, 2016

On the Brink of Demographic Crisis, Governments in East Asia Turn Slowly to Immigration

With many countries in East Asia facing unfavorable demographic shifts in the form of aging populations, low fertility, and shrinking workforces, governments in 2016 continued to explore immigration as a potential policy solution. However, a tradition of cultural homogeneity and wariness among publics about increased immigration is leading policymakers to test the waters with very small steps.

Fact Sheets

December 2016

The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in Select States

Across the United States, nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees are unemployed or stuck in low-skilled jobs. This skill underutilization, known as “brain waste,” varies significantly by state. These fact sheets offer a profile of these highly skilled immigrants and estimate their forgone earnings and resulting unrealized tax receipts in eight states: California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

Reports

December 2016

Untapped Talent: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States

Nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees in the United States—one out of every four—are employed in low-skilled jobs or unable to find work. This report explores this skill underutilization, often referred to as brain waste, and offers the first-ever economic costs of underemployment for immigrants in the United States: More than $39 billion in forgone wages and a resulting $10 billion in unrealized tax receipts.

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