Noncognitive characteristics and personality traits can be strong predictors of economic and social outcomes of individuals. In this paper, using data on cognitive ability and psychologist-assessed “sociability” and “adaptability” linked to administrative data for the male 1932–33 birth cohort in Norway, we analyze how these three characteristics affect men’s probability to migrate across labor markets. We find that higher adaptability, the capacity to adjust to new environments and situations, and higher cognitive ability are significant predictors of the probability to migrate. Adaptability is a particularly strong migration predictor for individuals with low cognitive ability or low socioeconomic background.

This paper reviews, reanalyzes, and extends to the long run the estimated effects of integration polices on the employment probability and earnings of refugees in Denmark. We first describe the dynamics of labor market outcomes of refugees in Denmark. We then find that increased language training and initial placement in strong labor markets improved refugees’ long-run labor market outcomes, while cutting initial welfare payments and placing refugees near other refugees did not improve them. Policies focused on matching refugees with occupations experiencing shortages have positive short-run effects, but we cannot yet assess their long-run effects.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers are fundamental inputs for innovation, the main driver of productivity growth. We identify the long-run effect of STEM employment growth on outcomes for native workers across 219 US cities from 1990 to 2010. We use the 1980 distribution of foreign-born STEM workers and variation in the H-1B visa program to identify supply-driven STEM increases across cities. Increases in STEM workers are associated with significant wage gains for college-educated natives. Gains for non-college-educated natives are smaller but still significant. Our results imply that foreign STEM increased total factor productivity growth in US cities.