The Relationship Between Immigration and Unemployment: The Case of France

This paper examines the relationship between immigration, the labor market and economic development in France. Using a system of equations for unemployment, immigration, wage and gross domestic product, the estimation of a cointegration relationship shows there is no observed increase in aggregate unemployment due to immigration in the long run. The vector error correction model indicates that immigration influence negatively unemployment and past immigration has a smaller impact on increasing wages in the short run. Despite institutional differences, migration flows have weak (positive) effects on employment in the long run.