Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation,
Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies

No 472: Economic impact of STEM immigrant workers

Christopher F Baum (), Hans Lööf () and Andreas Stephan ()
Additional contact information
Christopher F Baum: Boston College, DIW Berlin, and Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)
Hans Lööf: Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), Royal Institute of Technology
Andreas Stephan: Jönköping University, DIW Berlin, and Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS)

Abstract: STEM-focused industries are critical to the innovation-driven economy. As many firms are running short of STEM workers, international immigrants are increasingly recognized as a potential for high-tech job recruitment. This paper studies STEM occupations in Sweden 2011–2015 and tests hypotheses on new recruitment and the economic impact of foreign STEM workers. The empirical analysis shows that the probability that a new employee is a STEM immigrant increases with the share of STEM immigrants already employed, while the marginal effect on average firm wages is positively associated with the share of immigrant STEM workers. We also document heterogeneity in the results, suggesting that European migrants are more attractive for new recruitment, but non-EU migrants have the largest impact on wage determination.

Keywords: STEM; migration; employment; wages; correlated random effects

JEL-codes: C23; J24; J61; O14; O15

22 pages, October 4, 2018

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