Migration and regional innovation in Australia
This paper provides evidence on the impact of international migrants on regional innovation.
The study combines administrative individual-level data covering all Australian residents
with data on intellectual property rights applications such as patents, trademarks,
and design rights. The analysis uses a standard shift-share instrument based on past
migrant settlements to identify the causal effects of migration on innovation. Its
four main findings are the following: First, on average, a one percentage point increase
in the regional employment share of higher-educated migrants relative to total employment
leads to a 4.8% rise in regional patent applications in the medium run (five years).
Second, while migrants of all skill and education levels have a positive impact on
patenting, those in scientific occupations have the largest effect. Third, regions
with lower levels of patenting benefit relatively more from increases in migration
compared to those with higher patenting levels. Fourth, there is no effect of migration
on trademarks or design rights applications.
Published on January 04, 2024
In series:OECD Regional Development Papersview more titles