Economic analysis of migration flows to Germany focusing on Spanish emigrants

Abstract

This essay economically analyses the different international immigration flows Germany has experienced (with a special emphasis on Spanish population) since the end of World War II: guest workers period and post-financial crisis. Both waves are characterized by the contrasting educational level required by German employers according to the labor market needs. However, the language skills appear to be a key comparative advantage over other immigrants. For that purpose, an econometric analysis with German socio-economic panel data has been carried out in order to identify the potential requested skills for foreigners in the German labor market. The econometric models provide a justification to why this last migration wave –partly caused by an increasing globalization trend– is characterized by the importance of speaking and writing German very well in addition to the schooling level.