A comparative analysis of immigrant skills and their utilization in Australia, Canada, and the USA

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Population Economics
Year: 2016
Volume: 29
Issue: 3
Pages: 849-882

Authors (2)

Andrew Clarke (not in RePEc) Mikal Skuterud (University of Waterloo)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Abstract We compare literacy test scores and their impact on wage and employment outcomes of Australian, Canadian, and the US immigrants. Overall, we find little to distinguish the skills of immigrants to these three countries, although there is some indication of gains at the lower end of the distribution among Australian immigrants arriving after the mid-1990s. Relative immigrant wage returns to literacy are, however, substantially higher in the USA, which we argue reflects language-skill complementarities, as opposed to more efficient skill utilization or unobserved productivity characteristics.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:spr:jopoec:v:29:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-016-0591-2
Journal Field
Growth
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25