Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/207524 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12700
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Economic theory suggests that selective immigration policies based on observable characteristics will affect unobservable migrant quality. Little empirical evidence exists on this hypothesis. We quantify traditionally unobservable components of migrant quality in Australia, a high-migrant share OECD country with a selective immigration policy. We proxy migrant quality with widely-accepted measures of personality and cognitive ability. Both first- and second-generation immigrants outperform natives on socially-beneficial personality traits. While first-generation migrants suffer language-ability penalties, their off-spring overcome these penalties and outperform natives in cognitive ability. Immigrants do not outperform natives in the labor market, a finding which may be explained by heterogeneous wage returns to non-cognitive ability.
Subjects: 
economics of immigration
migrant quality
selection on unobservables
non-cognitive ability
cognitive ability
JEL: 
F22
J61
J24
J31
J62
O15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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