Great expectations: migration and labour market outcomes in Australia

This paper uses HILDA data to examine whether migration reduces local unemployment differentials by helping the unemployed find employment or whether it merely shuffles the unemployed between regions? The paper also considers whether employed residents experience better outcomes in their destination region, or whether labour supply shifts and increased job competition quickly erode the gains to be had? The paper shows that migration per se does little to address unemployment through improved job matching, particularly amongst the severely disadvantaged. Migration also reduced the the outcomes for those previously in employment suggesting some bumping down is occurring in job-rationed labour markets.