The impact of immigration on the labour market, public finances and economic growth - Literature review

The impact of immigration is very wide-ranging, with a potential field of investigation that includes demographic, economic, social, and cultural effects on host countries and countries of origin alike. Following discussions with the commissioning entity, the chosen scope of analysis is, however, limited to three already broad areas: the labour market, public finances and economic growth. This definition of the scope is, in particular, consistent with two similar exercises conducted abroad. The first was carried out in 1997 by the United States National Academy of Sciences, at the request of a Congressional Commission in 1995 (bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform). This exercise was recently renewed by the same Academy in 2017. The second such exercise took place in 2008 in the United Kingdom for the House of Lords. However, to our knowledge, no work covering simultaneously all these aspects has so far been carried out in France.

This report therefore seeks to decompartmentalise the analyses by summarising at once the often disjointed findings of academic or administrative literature relating to the labour market, public finances and economic growth. The report therefore proceeds to a literature review of the aforementioned effects of immigration and highlights the associated methodological challenges and limitations. The scope of the review includes academic research, traditionally a driving force behind methodological breakthroughs, as well as work of a more administrative nature, which is potentially more comprehensive in terms of contextualisation, hence a stronger link with public action. The overall approach enables at times to identify ways in which tools for monitoring immigration policy can be improved.