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Immigration and Economic Welfare: Resource and Environmental Aspects *
Author(s) -
CLARKE HARRY R.,
NG YEWKNANG
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
economic record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1475-4932
pISSN - 0013-0249
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4932.1993.tb02106.x
Subject(s) - immigration , economics , externality , distortion (music) , welfare , competition (biology) , resource (disambiguation) , immigration policy , population , social welfare , public economics , microeconomics , market economy , political science , sociology , law , ecology , amplifier , computer network , demography , cmos , electronic engineering , computer science , biology , engineering
The relation between immigration and the economic welfare of residents b analyzed for resource‐rich economies (such as Australia) both under competitive conditions and when various distortions are present Immigration provides efficiency gains for residents under distortion–free competition for standard ‘gains from trade’ reasons. Such reasons, however, tend to be ignored by immigration and ‘optimal population’ theorists who raise the issue of restricting immigration without explicitly referring to the distortions. In situations where distortions and externalities are present, we argue that it is generally preferable to devise policies which specifically target the distortions than to restrict immigration.