Migration in Spain: The Role of Cultural Diversity Revisited

Abstract

In this article, we analyze to what extent cultural diversity brought about by immigrants affects economic activity of the Spanish provinces. To do that, we use panel data techniques that treat cultural diversity as an endogenous variable and account for spatial linkages. The dual nature of immigrants in Spain, that is, working and retired migration, is also considered in our regressions. The outcomes reveal that greater cultural diversity stimulates the economic activity of the Spanish provinces, these gains being reinforced in the case of labor-active migrant and for richer provinces. Our results are robust to diverse specifications, estimation methods, and samples.