, Columnist
Immigrants Can Unlock Productivity Growth
But only when their skills are a match for the country that is hosting them.
From wayside to workplace.
Photographer: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Immigration has been making economies demonstrably more productive ever since there have been accurate output statistics. It's not a straightforward effect, however: The immigrants need to be well-suited to the needs of the receiving country's labor market.
In 1685, Louis XIV issued an edict banning Protestantism in France. The "heretics" -- Huguenots -- moved on; they were welcomed by the rulers by then-backward Prussia, hit hard by the Thirty Years' War and plague outbreaks. Prussian rulers never regretted the inflow of up to 20,000 Huguenots, or about 1.3 percent of the country's population: The influx resulted in a lasting productivity boost.