Migrants are key to productivity gains for countries

For decades, the focus of the economic literature when studying migration was, for the most part, on the impact it has on labour-related outcomes such as wages and unemployment. But these studies have only been able to tell us one side of the story. As is the case with other flows, such as trade and investment, there are many other aspects of migration that go beyond the localised short-term impact it might have on the labour force. However, there are many reasons to believe that migration may be a highly effective driver of knowledge diffusion across borders, write Dany Bahar (Brookings) and Hillel Rapoport (Paris School of Economics).