E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
Labor Market Impacts

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

Indian nurses in a classroom
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
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Multimedia
December 5, 2019
Turning the Tide: Addressing the Long-Term Challenges of EU Mobility for Sending Countries
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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
Tajik women working in a field
Articles
November 14, 2019
Dependent on Remittances, Tajikistan’s Long-Term Prospects for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Remain Dim
By Edward Lemon
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Multimedia
October 23, 2019
Legal Migration Pathways to Europe for Low- and Middle-Skilled Migrants
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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
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Policy Briefs
August 2019
Immigration and the U.S. Labor Market: A Look Ahead
By  Harry J. Holzer
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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

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RMSG FullSP THUMB
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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Reports
July 2013
Migración Mexicana a los EE.UU.: Factores Económicos Subyacentes y Posibles Escenarios de Flujos Futuros
By  Daniel Chiquiar and Alejandrina Salcedo
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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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Reports
April 2013
Mexican Migration to the United States: Underlying Economic Factors and Possible Scenarios for Future Flows
By  Daniel Chiquiar and Alejandrina Salcedo
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Books
March 2013
Immigrants in a Changing Labor Market: Responding to Economic Needs
Cover RMSG Agriculture
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
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Reports
February 2013
How Free Is Free Movement? Dynamics and Drivers of Mobility within the European Union
By  Meghan Benton and Milica Petrovic
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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.

Nepalearthquake2015 ILO Shukuko Koyama
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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

MI_InvestingWiselyFuture
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. 

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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.

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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.

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Recent Activity

Articles
June 28, 2023

Activism on Immigration by U.S. States Is Back, with New Tactics and Different Targets

Renewed U.S. state activism on immigration has echoes of the early 2010s, when Arizona’s SB 1070 defined a Republican-led push to increase enforcement that was ultimately muted by the courts and public backlash. Newer strategies rely on a novel array of tactics including migrant busing, litigation, and lawmaking. States are also moving in opposite directions, with some expanding rights for unauthorized immigrants, as this article details.

Reports
May 2023

Displaced Ukrainians in European Labor Markets: Leveraging Innovations for More Inclusive Integration

With millions of Ukrainians seeking safety in Europe, receiving countries are facing considerable pressure and also potential opportunities to benefit from this highly qualified population’s skills. This report explores displaced Ukrainians’ early employment outcomes, common challenges to finding jobs commensurate to their skills, and opportunities to more fully support their labor market integration.

Articles
April 18, 2023

A Pragmatic Bet: The Evolution of Spain’s Immigration System

Historically a country of emigration, Spain rapidly transitioned to become one of Europe’s major immigration destinations in just a few years. Remarkably, this evolution occurred with minimal political backlash, even as the country suffered through a crippling economic and labor crisis. This country profile examines the trends and policies that led to this astonishing development.

Policy Briefs
February 2023

Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System: Executive Actions to Facilitate the Migration of Needed Workers

Inefficiencies in the U.S. immigration system and case backlogs are preventing individuals eligible for immigration to the United States from filling some of the millions of job vacancies. This policy brief outlines executive actions that could facilitate the migration of needed workers, retain immigrants already in the U.S. workforce, and ease challenges experienced by U.S. employers and their foreign-born workers.

Commentaries
February 2023

Prolonged Ukrainian Displacement: An Uneasy Marriage of Reception, Integration, and Return Policies

One year into the vast Ukrainian displacement crisis sparked by Russia's invasion, European policymakers are having to confront the likelihood of prolonged stay for millions of Ukrainians and the prospect of new displacement. How can they juggle longer-term integration, first-reception services for new arrivals, and prepare Ukrainians for eventual return to rebuild their country? They will have to focus on multipronged policies and services, this commentary suggests.

Articles
January 26, 2023

Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers

At his term's midpoint, President Joe Biden has relied on executive action to advance his immigration agenda more than his predecessors, including Donald Trump. Yet many of the changes to interior enforcement, humanitarian protection, and other areas have been overshadowed by the record pace of arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has presented the administration with major policy and operational challenges.

Articles
November 30, 2022

After a Slump, Legal Immigration to the United States Is Returning to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Legal immigration to the United States fell to its lowest level in years during the COVID-19 pandemic, but preliminary data suggest it is returning to previous levels, belying predictions that the public-health crisis had allowed the Trump administration to make lasting, deep cuts. Yet the patterns have changed and persistent case processing backlogs could spell long-term problems, as this article explores.

Articles
September 22, 2022

Romanian Migration to Spain: Explaining an Unexpected Migrant Flow

Romanians comprise the second largest immigrant community in Spain. This population grew at a dramatic rate during the early 2000s, driven by a variety of economic, policy, and other factors. The number of Romanian immigrants peaked in 2012 and has steadily declined ever since. This article analyzes the drivers behind the growth and relative decline of this population and its role in the Spanish labor force.

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