How admitting migrants with any skills can help overcome a shortage of workers with particular skills

Arbeitspapier

A country that experiences a shortage of workers with particular skills naturally considers two responses: import skills or produce them. Skill import may result in large-scale migration, which will not be to the liking of the natives. Skill production will require financial incentives, which will not be to the liking of the ministry of finance. In this paper we suggest a third response: impose a substantial migration admission fee, "import" fee-paying workers regardless of their skills, and use the revenue from the fee to subsidize the acquisition of the required skills by the natives. We calculate the minimal fee that will remedy the shortage of workers with particular skills with fewer migrants than under the skill "import" policy.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ZEF Discussion Papers on Development Policy ; No. 266

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Externalities ; International Migration ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
• Subject: skill heterogeneity ; production externalities ; market inefficiency ; shortage of particular skills ; social planner's choice ; "Import" of skills ; a migration admission fee ; skill acquisition subsidy

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Stark, Oded ; Byra, Łukasz
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/191785
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET