The thesis explores the determinants of English proficiency as well as its role in labour-market integration outcomes and skills utilization. The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada provides the data for the empirical analysis. The introductory chapter offers insight into the recent changes to the Canadian immigration policy as well as immigration trends. This chapter also outlines chapters Two through Six and establishes the conceptual framework that unifies them. Chapter Two introduces two theoretical approaches, human capital theory and macro-level factors of the source and destination countries’ framework. It presents a review of the literature and introduces a theoretical model of linguistic integration that is subsequently tested in Chapters Three and Four. Chapters Three and Four focus on the application of human capital theory and macro-level factors of the source and destination countries’ framework. Chapter Three explores the factors that contribute to the immigrant’s English proficiency upon arrival. Chapter Four investigates the role of human capital and destination country’s macro-level factors in English proficiency four years after migration. The principal empirical results indicate that macro-level factors of the source country are significantly related to the English proficiency at arrival, while macro-level factors of the destination country are significantly related to English proficiency four years after migration. The results also corroborate findings described in the human capital literature aiding comprehension of the relationship between human capital endowments and English proficiency. Chapter Five investigates the role of English proficiency in such labour-market integration outcomes as employment seeking, incidence of employment, and employment within ethnic enclaves. The study finds that English proficiency is associated with higher odds of employment seeking and employment in Canada. It also significantly increases the likelihood of being employed outside ethnic enclaves. Chapter Six integrates human capital theory and language as a dimension of ethnicity framework. The analysis concentrates on the role of English in immigrants’ skills utilization. The principal results add to human capital theory, indicating that English proficiency significantly increases the odds of skills utilization. The findings also reveal that immigrants who speak standard English are more likely to utilize their skills than non-standard English speakers.

The thesis explores the determinants of English proficiency as well as its role in labour-market integration outcomes and skills utilization. The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada provides the data for the empirical analysis. The introductory chapter offers insight into the recent changes to the Canadian immigration policy as well as immigration trends. This chapter also outlines chapters Two through Six and establishes the conceptual framework that unifies them. Chapter Two introduces two theoretical approaches, human capital theory and macro-level factors of the source and destination countries’ framework. It presents a review of the literature and introduces a theoretical model of linguistic integration that is subsequently tested in Chapters Three and Four. Chapters Three and Four focus on the application of human capital theory and macro-level factors of the source and destination countries’ framework. Chapter Three explores the factors that contribute to the immigrant’s English proficiency upon arrival. Chapter Four investigates the role of human capital and destination country’s macro-level factors in English proficiency four years after migration. The principal empirical results indicate that macro-level factors of the source country are significantly related to the English proficiency at arrival, while macro-level factors of the destination country are significantly related to English proficiency four years after migration. The results also corroborate findings described in the human capital literature aiding comprehension of the relationship between human capital endowments and English proficiency. Chapter Five investigates the role of English proficiency in such labour-market integration outcomes as employment seeking, incidence of employment, and employment within ethnic enclaves. The study finds that English proficiency is associated with higher odds of employment seeking and employment in Canada. It also significantly increases the likelihood of being employed outside ethnic enclaves. Chapter Six integrates human capital theory and language as a dimension of ethnicity framework. The analysis concentrates on the role of English in immigrants’ skills utilization. The principal results add to human capital theory, indicating that English proficiency significantly increases the odds of skills utilization. The findings also reveal that immigrants who speak standard English are more likely to utilize their skills than non-standard English speakers.

The literature of immigration has been examined the impacts of immigration on the labor market outcomes, consumer goods, and the formation of jurisdictions. Part of the literature stresses on the policy recommendations on how to deal with immigration in general. This thesis aims to add this extant literature by investigating empirically the impact of immigration on the long run growth of a country. Specifically, the thesis examines the impact of diversity on long run economic growth rate of forty eight states in the United States by using historical data on immigration and income since the second half of 19th century. Initial analysis show that there is a negative relationship between the per capita income growth and immigration using both variables. In the further analysis, on the other hand, the results indicate the positive relationship between the per capita income growth and initial level of immigration.

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Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Sci. polit.--Paris--Institut d'études politiques, 1988. Titre de soutenance : L'analyse d'une politique publique : la politique française d'immigration. / En appendice, choix de documents. Bibliogr. p. 547-559. Index. Notes bibliogr.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Études irlandaises : Lille 3 : 2006. / Contient des passages en anglais. Résumé en français. Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. 436-541. Notes bibliogr. Index.

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This thesis is a collection of three manuscripts. In the first manuscript I develop a general equilibrium model that explains the growth and maturation of outsourcing – an outsourcing lifecycle – based on industry learning and market feedback. When outsourcing starts, buyers lack the knowledge to develop effective contracts so they rely on relationships. As contract knowledge develops, contracts become stronger and eventually replace relationships as the primary form of governance and the market grows. Under contractual governance, continued strengthening of contracts benefits buyers. The size of the market determines whether suppliers benefit or suffer with increased contracts strength. The second manuscript explores the design of an optimal skills-based immigrant selection system based. This system is based on two factors: a threshold in predicted-earnings that is used to determine whom to accept and reject, and a human-capital-based earnings regression for making error-minimizing predictions of immigrant success in the host labor market. We first show how to design a points system based on what we assume to be the optimal predicted-earnings threshold and the optimal prediction regression. We next develop a method for identifying the optimal threshold given the prediction regression. The method produces a “selection frontier” that dictates the options facing policy makers. The frontier shows the tradeoff between the average quality of admitted immigrants and the number of immigrants admitted. The frontier shifts out with improved accuracy in predicting earnings as well as with increases in the variation and average quality of the applicant pool. Finally, we show how the policy maker chooses the optimal selection system given the selection frontier. The third manuscript demonstrates the feasibility of the optimal immigrant selection method by developing an illustrative points system. We also explore how the selection system can be improved by incorporating additional information such as country-of-origin characteristics and intended occupations. We discuss what our findings imply for the debate about the relative merits of points- and employment-based systems for selecting economic immigrants. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2009-01-12 13:55:27.301

While Canadian immigration law has generally evolved incrementally, the law and policy around skilled immigrant selection has undergone generational shifts. The 1960s and 1970s saw the implementation of a human capital model, whereby immigrants were selected based on long-term adaptability to the labour market. This shift was accompanied by a broad national discussion on immigration. In the past decade, Canada has seen another generational shift away from the human capital model towards an employment-based model, where immigrants are chosen based on immediate employment prospects. The consequences of this shift are profound for our economy and society, but this change has not been accompanied by meaningful consultation or debate. Even more problematic has been the use of various lawmaking tools to limit debate and avoid judicial scrutiny. In contrasting recent changes and the accompanying lawmaking processes with the previous changes, this paper argues for a more comprehensive national conversation on immigration.