Immigration Lecture 8

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ImmigrationLecture 8

• Don J DeVoretz

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Benefits and Costs of Immigration

• Economic Affects of Immigration
• Treasury
• Drain or Gain
• Job Market
• Wage Compression or Expansion
• Job Displacement or Creation
• Goods Market
• Price Effects - housing inflation
• Quantity Effects

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Immigrant Treasury Transfer

• Immigrants add
• 2006 63k discounted
• Canadians add
• 2006 113k discounted
• Conclusion
• Immigrants subsidize residents
  

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Costs Benefits of Emigration

• Public Costs
• Treasury costs of post-secondary leavers
• Externalities loss of job creation and exports
• Loss of future income and taxes
• Private Costs
• Causes retention in 80 - 95 of Cases
• Loss of social safety net age specific
• Loss of social contact
• Loss of social and physical amenities

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Immigrants in Labour Market

• Highly skilled can create or compete for jobs
• Create jobs if bring complementary human capital
• Unskilled Largely temporary or in family class
• Largely take jobs Canadians will not do at going
  wage.

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Immigrants in Goods Markets

• Increase Shelter expenses
• Housing bubble?
• Increase transport needs
• Scale effects help with public transport
• Urban sprawl
• Increase demand for
• Schooling
• Health Care

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Brain Circulation
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Brain Churning

• Canada admits 250,000 yearly
• 3 doors
• A. Family Class- single screening 100,000
• B. Refugees Single screening 125,000
• C. Skills 125,000
• Policy is 50/50
• Thus net movement is 125,000

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Risk of Movement to USA
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Canadas Churning Costs

• Canada is engaged in brain exchange
• Canada loses 10,000 highly skilled to USA
• Canada imports 18,000 highly skilled ROW
• Does this Net 8,000 solve the problem ?
• What if 18,000 does not match 10,000
• What is cost of this churning ?
• 10 billion circa 1999-06

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Conclusions Brain Exchange

• Individual Immigrant gains
• Individual emigrant gains
• Canada experiences
• Minor cost due to settlement costs
• Large costs due to productivity loss
• Sending country experiences gain or loss
• Depending on size of remittances and return
  migration

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Policy Options

• Reduce Churning Costs through
• Internships
• Foreign graduate student conversion
• Bribe Canadians to come home
• WHY?
• Cheaper Canada 1968-72 program
• Unethical to import without compensation