The Implications of Changing Immigration Policy: Effects of Australia’s Immigration Policy Change Simulated on the United States

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Immigration policy has emerged as one of the most contentious issues all over the developed world. Over the past few years, there has been a proliferation of advocacy towards reforming the U.S. immigration policies towards one that is more conducive to economic growth citing merit-based immigration policies as the solution. Australia changed its immigration policy to a primarily merit-based system during the 1997-98 fiscal year and is often cited as an example of what the United States should do. This thesis studies the economic effects of the policy change in Australia and discerns changes the Untied States might benefit from by changing its own immigration policies. The economic effects (GDP per capita, wages, and unemployment) are analyzed through a difference-in-differences regression and findings are further supported through a qualitative case study approach of California and New South Wales. The results demonstrated that having a primarily merit-based immigration system is not a necessary condition to having positive economic outcomes. Additionally, merit-based immigration is incorrectly conflated with purely “high-skilled” immigration and often overlooks other occupations that would meet labor demanded. Based upon the evidence presented in this study, policymakers should focus on creating a more flexible immigration system that is more responsive to market demands, regardless of skill level, and expand all types of visas.

Type of resource	text
Date created	June 2, 2017

Author	Oscar Sarabia Roman
Advisor	Francis Fukuyama

Subject	Fisher Family Honors Program
Subject	Democracy
Subject	Development and the Rule of Law
Subject	CDDRL
Subject	immigration
Subject	immigration policies
Subject	family-based immigration
Subject	merit-based immigration
Subject	GDP
Subject	wages
Subject	unemployment
Subject	United States
Subject	Australia
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/mx288fn3672

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Oscar Sarabia Roman. (2017). The Implications of Changing Immigration Policy: Effects of Australia’s Immigration Policy Change Simulated on the United States. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/mx288fn3672

Stanford University, Fisher Family Honors Program in Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. (CDDRL)

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