Money & Macro Talks Are immigrants taking or creating jobs? prof. Jan Stuhler
Mar 4, 2026
Jan Stuhler, a Madrid-based economics professor who studies immigration and labor markets, joins to explore how migrant inflows reshape wages and jobs. He breaks down short-run supply shocks versus long-run capital adjustment. Discussion covers which industries and skill groups gain or lose, monopsony effects on migrant pay, visa rules, and policy tools like minimum wages and collective bargaining.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Skill Mix Creates Winners And Losers
- Skill composition matters: low-skilled immigration tends to depress wages for similarly skilled natives while raising wages for complementary high-skilled workers.
- Complementarity can operate through workplaces and household labor supply, e.g., domestic workers enabling higher female labor participation.
Domestic Workers Expanded Female Labor Supply In Spain
- Spanish influx of low-skilled Latin American women into domestic work increased labor supply of higher-skilled native women by providing childcare and housework.
- Effects concentrated among middle-income women who could newly afford domestic help, not the poorest or richest.
High Immigrant Shares In Low Skill Sectors Lower Prices
- Immigrants cluster in sectors like construction, agriculture, hospitality and care where formal skills are fewer and wages are low.
- Natives benefit indirectly via lower prices for goods and services produced by those sectors.