The Migration Policy Selectivity indexes

The Migration Policy Selectivity indexes measure the selectivity of migration policy with respect to nationality, skill level and economic resources. The three indexes each measure the extent to which people with higher skills, more resources, or originating from a specific country receive easier access to the destination country (entry and stay conditions). The indexes are mainly based on data from the DEMIG project, augmented with bilateral labour agreement dataset complied by Chilton and Posner (2018) and information on immigrant investment programmes and golden visas.

Important to note is that the indexes measure the de jure selectivity and not the extent to which those policies are implemented, nor the extent to which de jure nonselective policies are implemented in a selective way.

For each index, an increase in the value corresponds to an increase in the selectivity in migration policy. Specifically, an increase in MPS skill (MPS res) means that it becomes relatively easier for high-skilled (economically well-endowed) migrants to enter the country. Note that these indexes can be negative when it is easier for low skilled (less-well-endowed) migrants to enter.

The dataset contains two different indicators of selectivity by nationality. The first one is origin-destination-year specific, measuring the openness of  destination countries' migration policy with respect to a particular origin country. The index increases when migration policy is less restrictive towards migrants from a particular origin country. The second one is destination-year specific and uses the information of the origin-destination-year index to summarize the extent to which the destination country selects based on nationality. It increases when migration policy is more selective.

Please cite as: Glenn Rayp, Ilse Ruyssen and Samuel Standaert (2023), "Selecting only the Best and Brightest: an Assessment of Migration Policy Selectivity and its Effectiveness." UGent Working Paper 23/1062

Click here to download the destination-year MPS indexes in excel format.

Click here to download the origin-destination-year MPS indexes in excel format.