Work

Skill composition of immigration flows and the measurement of education-occupation mismatch

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Recent papers have found that often immigrants are overqualified relative to native-born workers when comparing an individual’s education to the ‘average’ education in their occupation. We show that these results are sensitive to differences in the education distribution between immigrants and the native born. Using data for New Zealand, which has an immigration policy that favours skilled immigrants, we find that this approach leads one to conclude that immigrants are, on average, overqualified for their occupation. However, once we account for the fact that immigrants are on average more skilled than natives, we find that immigrants are, in fact, less overeducated than natives. JEL classification: F22, J21, J61

Source: IZA Journal of Migration

DOI: 10.1186/s40176-016-0066-y

Authors: Jacques Poot, Steven Stillman

Institutions: IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, University of Waikato, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

Language: English

Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $1,202