Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/316450 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
DICE Discussion Paper No. 420
Publisher: 
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE), Düsseldorf
Abstract: 
We show that high-skilled immigrants earn higher wages than comparable natives in exporting firms, while low-skilled immigrants do not. Using matched employer-employee and customs data from Portugal, we document a reversal of the migrant-native wage gap among high-skilled workers in exporting firms. We develop a model with heterogeneous firms and directed search, in which high-skilled immigrants lower export costs through destination-specific knowledge. The model yields an information premium that explains the wage gap reversal. We provide evidence consistent with this mechanism using information on the origin country of the workers and the destination country of the firm's exports. Our results identify a novel channel through which trade reduces wage inequality conditional on the skill level and origin country of the employees, and provide new micro-level evidence on the role of workers in shaping firm-level internationalisation.
Subjects: 
Export
Firm
Immigrant
Wage
JEL: 
F14
F22
F16
J15
ISBN: 
978-3-86304-419-0
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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