Highly Skilled International Migration, STEM Workers, and Innovation

• Anelí Bongers ^[1] ; Carmen Díaz-Roldán ^[2] ; José L. Torres ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Málaga

     Universidad de Málaga

     Málaga, España

     
  2. [2] University of Castilla-La Mancha
• Localización: Documentos de Trabajo DAEF (Departamento de Análisis Económico y Finanzas). UCLM, ISSN-e 1989-4856, Nº. 1, 2018, págs. 1-33
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen

  • This paper studies the implications of highly skilled labor international migration in a two-country Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model. The model considers three types of workers: STEM workers, non-STEM college educated workers, and non-college educated workers. Only high skilled workers can move internationally from the relative low productivity (sending) country to the high productivity (host) country. Aggregate productivity in each economy is a function of innovations, which can be produced only by STEM workers. The model predicts i) the existence of a wage premium of STEM workers relative to non-STEM college educated workers, ii) this wage premium is higher in the destination country and increases with positive technological shocks, iii) a reduction in migration costs increases output, wages and total labor in the destination country, with opposite e⁄ects in the country of origin, and iv) high skilled immigrants reduce skilled native labor and do not a⁄ect unskilled labor