Foreign workers and domestic wage levels with an illustration from the Swiss case

Abstract

The work analyses issue of the importation of foreign labour, considering many aspects that have yet to receive close inspection. The inquiry is concerned solely with the effect of immigration on the economic position of the native population, or native labour force, of the country concerned. The author concludes that the native labour force, or the bulk of it, may, for a certain period, be benefitted, and not harmed, by certain forms of immigration, including those which have prevailed during the last decade or so in some Western European countries. Over the longer run, however, the effect will normally become disadvantageous to the native labour force. Therefore, traditional views as to who benefits from foreign labour for the short and medium run must be modified.

JEL: E24, J15, J31