The economic impact of migration: Why the local level matters

Much of the empirical evidence on the impact of migration in the host countries focuses on the national level, although it is at the local level where many of the relevant interactions with native-born actually occur. This is an important shortcoming, as one can expect significant variation in the local impact across areas, since immigrants are not evenly spread through the country, and their characteristics also tend to vary locally. This Chapter intends to provide a first step towards filling this important gap. It summarises the empirical literature on the local impact of migration on the labour and housing markets, as well as on local public infrastructure and local finances, together with some novel comparative data.