Productivity commission on the economics of immigration

The Productivity Commission’s recent Position Paper on the Economic Impacts of Migration and Population Growth examines the effects on productivity (output per hour worked) and GNP per capita of higher migration. It concludes that the effect of a 50 per cent increase in the numbers of skilled migrants over the twenty year period to 2024_25 will be to reduce average productivity slightly but increase GNP per capita slightly relative to current migration levels. However the Position Paper does not assess the implications of the extra migrants for Australian residents (or incumbents). This paper argues that the effect on GNP per capita for incumbents will be to lower it under the high migration scenario relative to the maintenance of current migration levels. Younger Australians will be the worst affected. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s