Article

Regularising the situation of the immigrant population does not result in a “call effect”

Joan Monràs, UPF, Barcelona GSE; Javier Vázquez-Grenno and Ferran Elias, UB; Adaptation: Albert F. Arcarons (EUI)

The study on which this article is based investigates the economic and labour impact of the regularisation, in the year 2005, of 600,000 non-EU immigrants who were working in Spain at that time. The results of the study show that both the labour opportunities of the migrants and their territorial mobility, as well as tax revenues, increased with this change of policy, aimed exclusively at workers in an irregular situation. However, this regu-larisation process did not lead to any “call effect”, or significant growth in the arrival of immigrants, nor did it affect workers with different qualifications and salaries in the same way.
Key points
  • 1
       The improvements relating to the right to work in the formal economy that the new regulations represented for workers in an irregular situation did not produce any effect in terms of immigrant workers attracted by the new situation.
  • 2
       As a result of the reform, the labour conditions of immigrants were favoured, along with their opportunities for mobility towards other sectors of the economy.
  • 3
       One of the most significant consequences of the regulatory change was the increase in tax revenues.
  • 4
       The regularisation had a positive effect on the overall economy, but had different impacts on workers depending on their qualifications and skills levels.

One of the most prominent consequences of the mass regularisation of immigrants was increased revenue for the public purse, originating from new taxes derived from the regulatory change itself, particularly - although not solely – from income tax.

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