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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Timothy K.M. Beatty and Dag Einar Sommervoll (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers statistical discrimination in rental markets, using a rich data set on rental contracts from Norway. We find that tenants born abroad pay a statistically significant and economically important premium for their dwelling units after controlling for a comprehensive set of apartment, individual and contract specific covariates. We also find that the premium is largest for tenants of African origin. Moreover, the children of parents born abroad also face a statistically significant and economically important rental premium. |
| Keywords: | Statistical Discrimination; Rental Markets; Hedonic Regression |
| JEL: | J15 R21 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:547&r=mig |
| By: | David McKenzie (World Bank, BREAD and IZA); Pilar Garcia Martinez (World Bank); L. Alan Winters (University of Sussex, CEPR, IZA) |
| Abstract: | New Zealand’s new Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program allows workers from the Pacific Islands to come to New Zealand for up to seven months to work in the horticulture and viticulture industries. One of the explicit objectives of the program is to encourage economic development in the Pacific. In this paper we report on the results of a baseline survey taken in Vanuatu, which allows us to examine who wants to participate in the program, and who is selected amongst those interested. We find the main participants are males in their late 20s to early 40s, most of whom are married and have children. Most workers are subsistence farmers in Vanuatu and have not completed more than 10 years of schooling. Such workers would be unlikely to be accepted under existing migration channels. Nevertheless, we find RSE workers from Vanuatu to come from wealthier households, and have better English literacy and health than individuals not applying for the program. Lack of knowledge about the policy and the costs of applying appear to be the main barriers preventing poorer individuals applying. |
| Keywords: | development; seasonal migration; selectivity |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:08/09&r=mig |
| By: | John Gibson (University of Waikato); David McKenzie (World Bank, BREAD and IZA); Halahingano Rohorua (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Temporary migration programs for unskilled workers are increasingly being proposed as a way to both relieve labour shortages in developed countries and aid development in sending countries without entailing many of the costs associated with permanent migration. New Zealand’s new Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program is designed with both these goals in mind, enabling unskilled workers from the Pacific Islands to work in horticulture and viticulture in New Zealand for a period of up to seven months. However, the development impact on a sending country will depend not only on how many workers participate, but also on who participates. This paper uses new survey data from Tonga to examine the process of selecting Tongans to work in the RSE, and to analyze how pro-poor the recruitment process has been to date. We find that the workers recruited come from largely agricultural backgrounds and have lower average incomes and schooling levels than Tongans not participating in the program. We also compare the characteristics of RSE workers to those of Tongans applying to permanently migrate to New Zealand through the Pacific Access Category, and find the RSE workers to be more rural and less educated. The RSE therefore does seem to have succeeded in creating new opportunities for relatively poor and unskilled Tongans to work in New Zealand. |
| Keywords: | development seasonal migration; selectivity |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:08/08&r=mig |
| By: | Schoellman, Todd |
| Abstract: | This paper uses labor market evidence to quantify the importance of quality-adjusted schooling differences in accounting for cross-country income differences. I model labor markets that are consistent with cross-country data on schooling attainment, education quality, and the average returns to schooling of a country’s emigrants and its non-migrants. The model suggests that the Mincerian returns to schooling of immigrants to the United States measure the education qualities of their source countries. Measured this way, quality differences across countries are large, and the calibrated model shows that schooling accounts for a factor of 5 of the income difference between the U.S. and the poorest countries. The evidence suggests that immigrants to the U.S. are positively selected members of their source country, and that immigrants from developing countries are more selected than those from developed countries. Then the low education quality measured in the sample actually overestimates the education quality of the average non-migrant, particularly for developing countries. Two methods of controlling for selection among immigrants thus predict a moderately larger role for schooling, between a factor of 6.5 and 7.9. |
| JEL: | O47 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9243&r=mig |