September 4, 2026 1:45PM # High-Skilled Immigration Improves Economic Performance By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... Pro-natalists [believe](https://www.npr.org/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5285445/who-are-pronatalists-the-people-who-want-to-women-to-start-having-a-lot-more-babies) that falling birthrates are priming countries for economic collapse. This view is probably [wrong](https://www.nber.org/papers/w35401), but in any case, the obvious response is expanded immigration. Using data from 38 OECD countries, [new research](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/immigration-macroeconomic-outcomes-oecd-countries) finds that > growth in native-born populations has slowed substantially, while immigration has increased significantly. … \[This\] immigration has been associated with stronger economic performance. Further, > as immigration increased, businesses and economies invested more in capital, such as equipment, technology, and other resources that enhance workers’ output. Immigration was also associated with increases in workforce skills and broader improvements in productivity. The study also found that > high-skilled immigrants appear to make particularly strong contributions to productivity and investment. Policies that facilitate attracting and retaining skilled workers may therefore help countries address demographic declines and support economic growth. [Current policymakers](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6047349-new-h1b-visa-cost-proposal/) should consider these results before restricting high-skilled immigration. *Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/p/immigration-restrictions-cause-enforcement)*.* ##### Related Tags [Immigration](https://www.cato.org/immigration) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).