Produced and Financial Capital: Productive Diversity

The human capital and the social capital that migrants either bring with them or develop once in Australia also contributes to the growth of produced and financial capital. Housing is one very obvious example. Housing provides much more than immediate shelter for a person. On top of this, the presence of migrants creates demands for physical and social infrastructure, sometimes provided by the public sector, sometimes by the migrants themselves. Similarly, migrants often invest in new business, thereby contributing to the rich tapestry of the productive diversity of Australian life. It is clear that migrants from other cultures offer special talents in economic relations with their country of origin. They have linguistic skills, knowledge of cultural sensitivities, market intelligence and the networks of associates to take advantage of business opportunities that might otherwise be lost (Jupp 2001). Immigrants have contributed significantly to the Australian economy in this respect.