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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Michele Moretto (Università di Padova); Sergio Vergalli (Università di Brescia) |
| Abstract: | This paper look at why most migration flows include observable jumps, a phenomenon that is in line with migration irreversibility. We have presented a real option model where the migration choice depends on both the wage differential between the host country and the country of origin, and on the probability of full integration into the host country. The optimal migration decision of an individual consists of waiting to migrate in a (coordinated) mass of individuals. The size of the migration flow depends on the behavioural characteristics of the ethnic groups: the more "sociable" they are, the larger the wave and the lower the wage differential required. The second part of the paper is devoted to calibrating the model and simulating migration flows into Italy over the last decade. The calibration can replicate the migration jumps in the short term. In particular, the calibrated model is able to project the induced labour demand elasticity level of the host country and the behavioural rationale of the migrants. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Real Option, Labour Market, Network Effect |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0053&r=mig |
| By: | Orlando J. Rodriguez |
| Abstract: | This report compares the allocation of House of Representative seats in 2010 using two scenarious building from the most defensible 2010 population projections for each of the fifty states. The first scenario assumes that Census 2010 counts all undocumented residents in all states. The second scenario assumes that none of the undocument residents are used as a basis for apportionment distribution. |
| Keywords: | immigration; congressional apportionment; Census Bureau. |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:cceast:2007-sept-01&r=mig |
| By: | Yuji Tamura (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether or not being an employer was an important determinant of individual preferences for immigration restriction in the EU member states in the eve of the 2004 enlargement. Our results do not confirm that employers were more pro-immigration than the rest by expecting a reduction in the cost of labor except in the following sector: sanitation-related activities such as refuse disposal and recreational, cultural and sports activities. On the contrary, we find that employers were more likely to be anti-immigration than the rest in sectors where foreign workers were highly present, such as household activities, construction, wholesale, hotels and restaurants. |
| Keywords: | individual attitudes toward immigration, employer, EU |
| JEL: | F22 J23 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1107&r=mig |
| By: | John Gibson (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Melanie Morton (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Steven Stillman (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants are typically found to have less wealth and hold it in different forms than the native born. These differences may affect both the economic assimilation of immigrants and overall portfolio allocation when immigrants are a large share of the population, as in New Zealand. In this paper, data from the 2001 Household Savings Survey are used to examine wealth differences between immigrants and the New Zealand-born. Differences in the allocation of portfolios between housing and other forms of wealth are described. Unconditional and conditional wealth quantiles are examined using parametric models. Semiparametric methods are used to decompose differences in net worth at different parts of the wealth distribution into the part due to differences in characteristics and the part due to differences in the returns to characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Portfolios, Semiparametric Decomposition, Wealth |
| JEL: | D31 G11 J15 |
| Date: | 2007–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:07_12&r=mig |
| By: | Andrew Coleman; John Landon-Lane (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a structural vector autoregression model to analyse the relationship between migration flows, housing construction and house prices in New Zealand. It shows that a net immigration flow equal to one percent of the population is associated with an approximately 10 percent increase in house prices. This size of this relationship, which has existed since the 1960s, is an order of magnitude larger than would be expected from the average change in the population and house prices in the long term. One explanation is that migration flows occur at times when locals are changing their demand for housing because of revised expectations about future income growth. A second explanation is that migrant flows have a destabilising effect on agents expectations about the fundamental value of houses. While the paper cannot satisfactorily distinguish between these two options, the results suggest that monetary policy can still be used to dampen the house price changes that occur at times when migration flows are unusually large. |
| JEL: | E50 J61 R21 R23 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzb:nzbdps:2007/12&r=mig |
| By: | Tim Krieger (University of Paderborn); Steffen Minter (University of Paderborn) |
| Abstract: | The question of how to proceed with illegal immigrants arriving in the southern EU member states is one of the pressing policy issues for the EU. In our article we will provide a thorough analysis of immigration policy and immigration amnesties from an economist’s perspective. In particular, we are interested in answering questions such as why (at all) some states legalize irregular immigrants and what effects unilateral policy measures in this field have in an economic union such as the EU. While most of the work in the area of immigration amnesties focuses on the single country case we extend this scenario to the case in which the legalizing country is part of a federation and spillover effects between different states may occur. Several interesting aspects will be considered in this context, in particular, potential changes of the policy mix between internal and external enforcement on the one hand and legalization on the other hand when a federal setting is considered instead of a single country. |
| Keywords: | illegal migration, immigration policy, regularization, amnesties, enforcement, interregional transfers, European Union |
| JEL: | J61 F22 R50 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:wpaper:6&r=mig |
| By: | Horst Siebert |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes rules for international factor movements, i.e. real capital flows together with the relocation of firms, the flow of technology and the migration of people. These rules have to make sure that individuals, individual countries as well as the world economy benefit from factor flows. They also define whether factors are accumulated, for instance whether new technology is found. Except for TRIMS, an international investment code has not been established. Conventions have been introduced to ease patent applications. TRIPS protects intellectual property. Rules for labor migration relate to the right of exit and to conditions of entry. Factor movements are interdependent among themselves and with trade. This implies a pecking order between trade, capital flows and migration. |
| Keywords: | International rules, institutional arrangements, capital flows, technology, patents, intellectual property rights, migration, pecking order between trade and factor flows |
| JEL: | F2 K O3 P |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1381&r=mig |
| By: | Daniel Da Mata; Carlos Wagner de A. Oliveira; Cedric Pin; Guilherme Resende |
| Abstract: | This article aims to verify the main determinants of migration for a specific category: the qualified labor force. By qualified labor force, we mean persons with high education attainment (one year of college studies or more). The paper presents, first, the ranking of cities with higher attraction of qualified migrant. A specific indicator of qualified migration is elaborated, coined as index of net qualified migration, constructed from the comparison between qualified in-migrants and qualified outmigrants. Águas de São Pedro (SP) is the place with the highest index value. As for the group of municipalities with population higher than 100,000 inhabitants, São Paulo (SP) is the city in Brazil that has the highest net qualified migration index. Besides, the empirical analysis carried out in the paper aim to verify the main cities? characteristics concerning the attraction of qualified migrants. Spatial econometrics models, employed to correct for potential errors in the empirical strategy, corroborated the results estimated via ordinary least squares (OLS) models. Labor market dynamics, less social inequality, less crime, proximity to the coast and less rigorous climate are important factors behind the qualified migrants? choices to locate in a city. |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1305&r=mig |