Skill transferability and the earnings of immigrants

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1404-1428
Author(s):  
Nick Manuel ◽  
Miana Plesca
Author(s):  
Francesca Sgobbi

Workers with low skill transferability risk longer unemployment spells between jobs and face higher probability of poorer working conditions. Those risks are particularly strong for professionals in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), due to fast changing technologies and processes. The empirical analysis provided in this paper tests the borders of skill transferability for ICT employees by assessing the return to employer mobility for firm changers in the same industry and firm changers moving outside the ICT industry compared to firm stayers. The 1990-2004 empirical analysis is based on WHIP, a longitudinal dataset including a representative sample of employment relationships in Italy. The results show that firm changers benefit from a wage premium, provided that they remain in the ICT industry.


Author(s):  
George J. Borjas ◽  
Barry R. Chiswick

In previous research on the economic adjustment of immigrants, hypotheses were generated based on the degree of the transferability of skill and the self-selection of immigrants for labor market ability. These hypotheses were found to be consistent with cross-sectional data for the United States and other countries. This chapter considers two alternative hypotheses that have been suggested: selective return migration of immigrants and the migration of those who anticipate high earnings for reasons other than ability. To compare the original and alternative models, a variety of new tests are made using cross-sectional and longitudinal data on earnings, occupation, and schooling from the censuses of population and the National Longitudinal Survey. The model of immigrant adjustment based on skill transferability and immigrant self-selection is shown to be consistent with these new tests, while the alternative hypotheses are not.


2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (9) ◽  
pp. 2658-2698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Bazzi ◽  
Arya Gaduh ◽  
Alexander D. Rothenberg ◽  
Maisy Wong

We use a natural experiment in Indonesia to provide causal evidence on the role of location-specific human capital and skill transferability in shaping the spatial distribution of productivity. From 1979–1988, the Transmigration Program relocated two million migrants from rural Java and Bali to new rural settlements in the Outer Islands. Villages assigned migrants from regions with more similar agroclimatic endowments exhibit higher rice productivity and nighttime light intensity one to two decades later. We find some evidence of migrants' adaptation to agroclimatic change. Overall, our results suggest that regional productivity differences may overstate the potential gains from migration. (JEL J24, J43, J61, O13, O15, Q13, R23)


2007 ◽  
Vol 39 (13) ◽  
pp. 1663-1677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lex Borghans ◽  
Bart H. H. Golsteyn

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry R. Chiswick ◽  
Paul W. Miller

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