Burden or relief? Fiscal impacts of recent Ukrainian migration to Poland
Dr. Paweł Kaczmarczyk , University of Warsaw
Immigration has become recently one of the most important subjects in socio-economic debates. In many countries immigrants are commonly presented as a threat to host economies and societies. On top of this fiscal impacts of immigration are ones of the hottest and most controversial topics in recent debate on migration. Against this background this paper aims at (1) discussing and synthesizing both theoretical and empirical literature on fiscal impacts of immigration, and (2) assessing empirically net fiscal position of Ukrainian immigrants in Poland. On the theoretical level we show that there exists no clear or coherent theoretical framework to explain fiscal effects of migration. Outcomes of empirical studies are mixed and not unequivocal, but generally prove that fiscal impacts of immigration are small or negligible. In terms of explanation, type of migration, labor market incorporation (absorption) and institutional framework at destination (structure of the welfare state) are presented as critical factors. Importance of those factors is clearly supported by empirical analysis presented. Net fiscal position of Ukrainian immigrants in Poland is unequivocally positive. This is mostly due to favorable characteristics of incoming immigrants (in terms of age and education) and particular migration strategies in work (pure labor migration). These features, however, to a large extent result from modes of labor market incorporation and structural characteristics of the Polish welfare state.
About the speaker
Paweł Kaczmarczyk is vice director of the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw (since 2009). Since 2004 he is assistant professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw and director of Central and Eastern European Economic Research Centre affiliated at the Faculty. In 2008-2011 he was a member of the Board of Strategic Advisers to the Prime Minister of Poland. He is IZA fellow and TFMI (Transcontinental Forum on Migration and Integration) fellow, and SOPEMI correspondent for Poland (at OECD). His main research areas include causes and consequences of labour migration (with special attention paid to analysis of migration processes in CEE countries), highly skilled mobility, methodology of migration research, labour economics, international economics and migration policy. He is author of many publications concerning those areas.
Venue: Conference Room
Date: 26 September 2013
Time: 12:30 - 13:30 CET
