Employer-sponsored immigration schemes are more effective than a points-based system in sending workers to regions where they”re needed most. That is the conclusion of research by Toan Nguyen, to be presented at the Royal Economic Society”s annual conference at the University of Sussex in Brighton in March 2018.
The study by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, examines these two types of immigration scheme and compares the impact of commodity price fluctuations on regional wages growth, to then calculate the demand for labour, across the period 2001 to 2015.
The research finds that the number of employer-sponsored immigrants arriving in regions varied in line with the impact of commodity prices on local wages. As local wages increased, there was an increase in the number of workers moving to that area. But this was not evident with points-based immigrants, and immigration through this scheme remained steady even when wages increased.
In addition, the research finds that employers have a greater role to play in reducing the number of immigrants who move to regions where there is less demand for their skills.
“Immigration misallocation: evidence from Australia” by Toan Nguyen
Toan Nguyen
+610451533670 | toan.nguyen@curtin.edu.au
