Labor Market Impacts

Economic theory suggests that the impact of immigration overall on the economy is likely to be small and for any negative effects to dissipate over the longer term as the economy adjusts to a larger labor supply. The research collected here examines the labor market impacts of immigration, including how immigrant and native-born workers fare over time, as well as how their skill levels, countries of origin, gender, and other characteristics affect their outcomes in the workforce.

Recent Activity

Articles January 23, 2020 Global Demand for Medical Professionals Drives Indians Abroad Despite Acute Domestic Health-Care Worker Shortages By Margaret Walton-Roberts and S. Irudaya Rajan	Multimedia December 5, 2019 Turning the Tide: Addressing the Long-Term Challenges of EU Mobility for Sending Countries
Policy Briefs November 2019 Health Insurance Coverage of Immigrants and Latinos in the Kansas City Metro Area By Randy Capps and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto	Articles November 14, 2019 Dependent on Remittances, Tajikistan’s Long-Term Prospects for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Remain Dim By Edward Lemon
Multimedia October 23, 2019 Legal Migration Pathways to Europe for Low- and Middle-Skilled Migrants	Policy Briefs August 2019 How Does Immigration Fit into the Future of the U.S. Labor Market? By Pia M. Orrenius, Madeline Zavodny and Stephanie Gullo
Policy Briefs August 2019 Immigration and the U.S. Labor Market: A Look Ahead By Harry J. Holzer	Reports July 2019 Equipping Immigrant Selection Systems for a Changing World of Work (Transatlantic Council Statement) By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Meghan Benton and Kate Hooper

Pages

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	Reports July 2013 Migración Mexicana a los EE.UU.: Factores Económicos Subyacentes y Posibles Escenarios de Flujos Futuros By Daniel Chiquiar and Alejandrina Salcedo
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	Reports April 2013 Mexican Migration to the United States: Underlying Economic Factors and Possible Scenarios for Future Flows By Daniel Chiquiar and Alejandrina Salcedo
Books March 2013 Immigrants in a Changing Labor Market: Responding to Economic Needs	Reports February 2013 Ripe with Change: Evolving Farm Labor Markets in the United States, Mexico, and Central America By Philip Martin and J. Edward Taylor
Reports February 2013 How Free Is Free Movement? Dynamics and Drivers of Mobility within the European Union By Meghan Benton and Milica Petrovic	Fact Sheets February 2013 Resumen del Sector: Agricultura, Implicaciones para el Capital Humano y la Migración By Philip Martin and J. Edward Taylor

Pages

NicaraguanCoffeePickers IngmarZahorsky Flickr

Feature

August 26, 2015

Business as Usual? Regularizing Foreign Labor in Costa Rica

With the growing urbanization and consolidation of Nicaraguan immigrants in sectors such as construction and domestic service, Costa Rica has shifted its focus from immigration enforcement to integration. Tension has emerged between the government and private sector as a new mechanism for regularizing unauthorized immigrant workers has failed to gain traction.

Feature

June 18, 2015

Redefining Nepal: Internal Migration in a Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Society

Even as Nepal will lean more heavily on its international diaspora to help recover from devastating earthquakes that killed thousands and decimated parts of the country, the disasters have had effects on internal migration. Class and gender dynamics have long driven significant internal flows. This feature article explores migration trends in Nepal, including movement between ecological zones, growing urbanization, and the feminization of an increasingly mobile workforce.

Feature

April 2, 2015

Assessing the Political Impact of Immigration as the United Kingdom Heads to the Polls

The United Kingdom has faced changing immigration patterns over the last two decades driven largely by EU migration, and political upheaval caused by the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Scottish National Party. Upcoming general elections in May 2015 will have a significant impact not only on immigration policies but the United Kingdom's place in the European Union.

Feature

June 13, 2012

Visas for Entrepreneurs: How Countries Are Seeking Out Immigrant Job Creators

For economic and political reasons, more governments are turning to visas to admit select groups of highly skilled immigrants (especially in high-tech and high-growth fields) to their countries to boost entrepreneurship and enhance job creation. A look at the challenges, opportunities, and increasing popularity of these entrepreneur visa programs.

Feature

October 17, 2007

Causes of South-South Migration and Its Socioeconomic Effects

Migrants' networks and relatively small travel distances help explain migration from one developing country to another. Dilip Ratha and William Shaw of the World Bank look at these and other reasons for and effects of South-South migration.

Pages

MPI Europe event with five panelists at desk

Audio

November 20, 2013

Effective Labour Migration Management: Creating Checks and Balances while Searching for Talent

This Migration Policy Institute Europe event, organized with the Bertelsmann Stiftung, entitled Effective Labour Migration Management: Creating Checks and Balances while Searching for Talent brought together experts, policymakers, and social partners involved in the management of labor migration to discuss the various options available to policymakers.

Video, Audio

May 6, 2013

Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: A New View on Migration and Human Capital for the United States, Mexico, and Central America

A panel discussion on the release of the Regional Migration Study Group's final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, outlining its findings and offering recommendations to policymakers in the region.

Video, Audio

March 27, 2013

Investing Wisely in the Future: How the U.S. Immigration System Can Better Meet U.S. Labor Market Needs

With the prospects for immigration reform greater than they have been in more than a decade and the U.S. economy slowly shrugging off the effects of the recession, the United States may be on the cusp of historic changes that make the immigration system a more effective tool for innovation, economic growth and the competitiveness of its firms—large and small.

Audio

July 14, 2011

Labor Standards Enforcement and Low-Wage Immigrants: Creating an Effective Enforcement System

This Migration Policy Institute webinar discusses labor enforcement laws during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations and chronicles gaps in labor protection.

EVENT%20PHOTO%202011.6.13%20Recession1web[1]

Audio

June 13, 2011

Migration and Great Recession: The Transatlantic Experience

This Migration Policy Institute event was held to discuss the release of MPI's book, Migration and the Great Recession: The Transatlantic Experience, which reviews how the financial and economic crisis of the late 2000s marked a sudden and dramatic interruption in international migration trends.

Recent Activity

Articles

May 26, 2021

Slowing U.S. Population Growth Could Prompt New Pressure for Immigration Reform

Results from the 2020 census show that the U.S. population has been growing at its slowest rate since the Great Depression. Reduced immigration has been one component of this sluggish population growth, which could pose a problem for the United States as people age and strain public retirement systems. This U.S. Policy Beat article examines how immigration fits into the country's demographic puzzle.

Policy Briefs

February 2021

COVID-19 and the Demand for Labor and Skills in Europe: Early Evidence and Implications for Migration Policy

While the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on European labor markets have focused attention on weathering this crisis, Europe also faces longer-term challenges linked to technological and demographic changes. This issue brief examines how the pandemic is reshaping demand for workers and skills in Europe, what this means for migration policy, and strategies for tackling both short- and long-term labor market challenges.

Articles

February 3, 2021

The Eurasian Economic Union: Repaving Central Asia’s Road to Russia?

In recent decades Russia has been increasingly reliant on Central Asian migrant workers. Those workers, in turn, have sent back remittances that have been crucial for their countries of origin. Since 2015, many of these ex-Soviet countries have come together in the Eurasian Economic Union to solidify their bonds and ease migrants' passage to Russia. This article explores the bloc and how it reflects Russia's role in the region.

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 9, 2020

What’s Next for Global Migration? Gazing Into the COVID-19 Crystal Ball

With news that viable COVID-19 vaccines are on the horizon, what might 2021 hold in store for the global movement of people, whether for tourism, business travel, or more enduring forms of migration? Alan Gamlen, associate professor of human geography at Monash University in Australia, tackles some of the big questions in this Moving Beyond Pandemic episode, including whether cities will be reshaped by immobility. He paints a picture of a world with lower levels of mobility for the next few years, punctuated by periodic spikes.

Video, Webinars

September 21, 2020

17th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This year’s Immigration Law and Policy Conference examines the immigration policy agenda under the Trump administration, including changes in the asylum system; the vast societal upheaval brought on by COVID-19 and the rising racial justice movement; what the future of U.S. immigration may look like; and many other topics related to U.S. immigration policy.

Fact Sheets

November 2020

An Early Readout on the Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis: Immigrant Women Have the Highest Unemployment

Working-age immigrant women in the United States entered the COVID-19-induced recession with unemployment rates similar to those of other groups. Yet they have been among the most affected by pandemic-related job losses. This fact sheet seeks to explain why they have been hit so hard by the coronavirus-induced recession.

Video, Audio, Webinars

November 18, 2020

Welfare States and Migration: How Will the Pandemic Reshape a Complex Relationship?

This MPI Europe webinar reflects on the implications of this current moment for European economies and societies and the role of immigration and immigrant integration policy, and highlight research from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre on the fiscal and demographic impacts of migration.

Video, Audio, Webinars

November 9, 2020

The Post-Pandemic Ascent: The Role of Migration in Emerging from the Economic and Labor Market Turmoil

MPI and OECD experts discuss the impact of the coronavirus on migration and mobility systems, findings from OECD’s International Migration Outlook 2020, opportunities for innovation, what labor demands may emerge, and the role of migration in North America and Europe at this challenging point in history.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Labor Market Impacts

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages