Immigration economics: concord and contestation

Abstract

This paper will characterise the major economic dimensions of Australian research into economic aspects of immigration. This will cover macro-economics (labour markets, current account, government budgets), long-run growth (productivity, real income) and social economics (distribution of income and wealth, discrimination) and discuss the major gaps remaining for informing Australian policy (ageing, environment, regional distribution). It will speculate on the likely influence of research on future policy and may even bravely speculate on lessons from Australia for Europe and vice versa