Immigration, Redistribution through Immigration and Income Inequality. Some Empirical Evidence and Policy Proposals

The present paper deals with the issue of the redistributive impact of immigration for the destination countries. In particular, it studies the effects of immigration on income inequality, attempting to demonstrate, through a critical review of the most recent theoretical models and empirical research on this issue, how out-migration can increase income inequalities, thus hindering economic growth and exacerbating regional disparities, while immigration can reduce income inequalities and mitigate economic imbalances, according to the hypothesis of skilled immigration equalising, formulated in 2008 by Kahanec and Zimmermann. From the analysis of the redistributive impact of internal immigration in Italy emerge, moreover, some useful suggestions to help policy makers and lawgivers in the management of migratory phenomena and counteract the human and industrial desertification of whole regions or macroareas.