TY - JOUR
T1 - Foreign Human Capital and Total Factor Productivity
T2 - A Sectoral Approach
AU - Fassio, Claudio
AU - Kalantaryan, Sona
AU - Venturini, Alessandra
PY - 2020/9
Y1 - 2020/9
N2 - We analyze the role of migrants in productivity growth in the three largest European countries—France, Germany and the United Kingdom—in the years 1994–2007, using Total Factor Productivity. Unlike previous research, which mainly employs a regional approach, our analysis is at the sectoral level: this allows to distinguish the real contribution of migrants to productivity from possible inter-sectoral complementarities, which might also foster growth. We control for the share of migrants and the different components of human-capital, such as education, age and diversity, and adopt instrumental variables strategies to address the possible endogeneity of migration. The results show that migrants contribute to the productivity of the sectors in which they are employed, but with important differences: highly-educated migrants show a larger positive effect in high-tech sectors, and to a lesser extent in services sector. The diversity of countries of origin contributes to productivity growth only in the services sectors.
AB - We analyze the role of migrants in productivity growth in the three largest European countries—France, Germany and the United Kingdom—in the years 1994–2007, using Total Factor Productivity. Unlike previous research, which mainly employs a regional approach, our analysis is at the sectoral level: this allows to distinguish the real contribution of migrants to productivity from possible inter-sectoral complementarities, which might also foster growth. We control for the share of migrants and the different components of human-capital, such as education, age and diversity, and adopt instrumental variables strategies to address the possible endogeneity of migration. The results show that migrants contribute to the productivity of the sectors in which they are employed, but with important differences: highly-educated migrants show a larger positive effect in high-tech sectors, and to a lesser extent in services sector. The diversity of countries of origin contributes to productivity growth only in the services sectors.
KW - diversity
KW - highly skilled migrants
KW - migration
KW - sectoral productivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068933375&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/roiw.12426
DO - 10.1111/roiw.12426
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85068933375
SN - 0034-6586
VL - 66
SP - 613
EP - 646
JO - Review of Income and Wealth
JF - Review of Income and Wealth
IS - 3
ER -