The Inflow of Highly Educated Migrants and Its Impact on the Wages of Highly Educated Locals: Exploring the Moderating Role of Regional Economic Diversity

Abstract

This study investigates whether the inflow of highly educated migrants increases the wages of highly educated locals, a question that has been a subject of controversy in the migration literature. Focusing on South Korea, which has undergone one of the world's most rapid increases in its highly educated workforce, the findings reveal that regional economic diversity plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between the inflow of highly educated migrants and the wages of highly educated locals. Furthermore, by employing conditional process analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM), this study demonstrates that this moderation occurs as regional economic diversity enhances the indirect market-side impact of highly educated in-migrants on the wages of highly educated locals through an increase in their employment.