Heterogeneous labor impacts of migration across skill groups: The case of Costa Rica

Arbeitspapier

Popular empirical strategies that examine the labor impacts of migrants, like the skill-cell approach, are frequently used to measure the effects of immigrants from a particular skill group on native-born workers with similar skills. I use an augmented version of the skill-cell approach to examine the impacts of immigrants on native workers with similar skills but also across skill groups. I apply this approach to the case of Nicaraguan immigrants in Costa Rica. I find large positive employment and wage effects on high-skilled women arising from low-skilled migrants. These positive effects are derived from both the household channel and the complementary-skills channel. I also find negative but small effects on low-skilled native workers. The results show that immigrants can have complex labor market effects on native workers with own and cross elasticities that can be quite different.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IDB Working Paper Series ; No. IDB-WP-1145

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers: General ; Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers ; International Migration
• Subject: International migration ; skill-cell ; employment

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Blyde, Juan S.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• (where): Washington, DC
• (when): 2020

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.18235/0002595
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/234714
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET