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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | de la Fuente, Alejandro |
| Abstract: | International remittances have been portrayed as the human face of globalization given their potential to alleviate poverty by directly increasing household income. Using a panel of rural households in Mexico from October 1998 to November 2000 this study assesses whether this is in fact the case. However, rather than examining whether transfers income would reduce future consumption poverty we asked if transfers are likely to reach people whose conditions are prone to worsen in the future. We used vulnerability to consumption poverty to quantify the extent to which risks and the more permanent disadvantages embedded in most rural livelihoods, can translate into future declines in well-being. We found, contrary to our expectations, a negative and statistically significant relationship between the remittance of transfers, including foreign remittances, and the threat to future poverty that rural households could experience. |
| Keywords: | globalization, risk, vulnerability, poverty, private transfers, Mexico |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-17&r=mig |
| By: | Barrett, Alan (ESRI, Dublin); Kelly, Elish (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Much research has been conducted on immigration into Ireland in recent years using data from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), the official source for labour market data in Ireland. As it is known that the QNHS undercounts immigrants in Ireland, a concern exists over whether the profile of immigrants being provided is accurate. For example, QNHS-based research has shown that immigrants in Ireland are a highly educated group. However, if it is the case that those who are missed by the QNHS are more heavily drawn from among low-skilled immigrants, then the profile being reported and used in other research may be inaccurate. In this paper, we use the Irish Census of 2006 to assess the reliability of the profile of immigrants provided by the QNHS by comparing the characteristics of immigrants in both datasets. In general, we find that the QNHS does indeed provide a reliable picture and that earlier findings on the education levels of immigrants in Ireland hold. |
| Keywords: | migration research, census, household survey, Ireland |
| JEL: | J61 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3689&r=mig |
| By: | Gandhi, B. Valentine Joseph; Bantilan, M. Cynthia Serquina; Parthasarathy, Devanathan |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the livelihood dynamics in the fragile landscape of the semi arid tropics (SAT) of Andhra Pradesh. SAT is home to the poorest of the poor who live in conditions of persistent drought, subsistence agriculture and poor access to markets. This paper is a case study focusing particularly on labour migration, its role in influencing the health risk behaviour of migrants and in the spread of the HIV epidemic among SAT rural households. The most vulnerable population in these drought prone regions are the migrant labourers, and their vulnerability is influenced by three major factors?the vulnerability and unstable productivity in the degraded and marginal landscape, the caste system that has traditionally kept them backward and vulnerable, and experiences in the external environment to which they migrate. This study?based on a theoretical framework, whereby livelihood risks lead to health risks, particularly HIV infection?outlines the process that causes a further deterioration of the household and the occurrence of cyclical health risk. The paper calls for a multisectoral approach to tackle the issue of migrant vulnerability, and for interventions with a more migrant-need sensitive |
| Keywords: | labour migration, HIV risk behaviour, agriculture, health, semi-arid tropics |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-49&r=mig |
| By: | Abada, Teresa; Hou, Feng; Ram, Bali |
| Abstract: | Using the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, this article examines the group differences by national origin in university educational attainment among the children of immigrants in Canada. We found that children of immigrant parents in most source region groups achieve higher university completion rates than children of Canadian-born parents, partly due to higher education levels of their parents. Children of Chinese and Indian immigrants particularly attain higher academic achievements than children of Canadian-born parents. Parental education was also important in explaining the relatively low university completion rates among the second-generation Portuguese. |
| Keywords: | Education, training and learning, Ethnic diversity and immigration, Educational attainment, Education, training and skills, Ethnic groups and generations in Canada, Outcomes of education |
| Date: | 2008–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2008308e&r=mig |
| By: | Attzs, Marlene |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the linkages between poverty and disaster vulnerability in the context of remittance flows to households in the Caribbean. Jamaica is used as the case study country. The paper discusses the channels through which natural disasters and remittances affect each other but also reviews the distribution of female-headed households in Jamaica as a percentage of households living below the poverty line and seeks to identify whether flows of remittances alleviate the post-disaster living conditions of such households. The dislocation of households coupled with the loss of livelihoods caused by natural disaster, which usually affects the poor disproportionately, provides a push factor for migration and future remittances. After hurricane Gilbert in Jamaica (1988) there was an increase in migration. At the same time, there is an increased flow of remittances to help alleviate some of the suffering in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The paper concludes that given the increase in remittances to Jamaica, this flow of income could be used to smooth out the consumption patterns of already vulnerable, female-headed households living in poverty. |
| Keywords: | natural disasters, remittances, economics of gender, Jamaica |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-61&r=mig |
| By: | Macours, Karen; Vakis, Renos |
| Abstract: | This paper provides unique evidence of the positive consequences of seasonal migration for investments in early childhood development. We analyse migration in a poor shock-prone border region in rural Nicaragua where it offers one of the main household income diversification and risk coping strategies. IV estimates show, somewhat surprisingly, that mother?s migration has a positive effect on early cognitive development. We attribute these findings to changes in income and to the intra-household empowerment gains resulting from mother?s migration, which offset potential negative ECD effects from temporary lack of parenting. This paper, hence, illustrates how increased opportunities in seasonal migration due to higher South?South mobility might positively affect early childhood development and as such long term poverty reduction. |
| Keywords: | Nicaragua, migration, income, households |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-48&r=mig |
| By: | Ziesemer, Thomas (UNU-MERIT, and Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | We show empirically that aid given to poor developing countries enhances growth and reduces emigration once several dynamically interacting effects of aid are taken into account in a system of equations. We estimate equations for net immigration flows as a share of the labour force and GDP per capita growth and also for all their regressors including remittances and official development aid. We use dynamic panel data methods for a sample of poor countries with GDP per capita below $1200 (2000) for which aid is about 9.5% of GDP. The partial effects in these regressions are as follows. Remittances enhance net immigration, savings, public expenditure on education and growth, but reduce tax revenues, all as a share of GDP. Net immigration enhances labour force growth and the savings ratio. Official development aid decreases the savings ratio and the per capita GDP growth rate, but it increases investment, public expenditure on education and literacy and also labour force growth. Then we integrate all equations to a dynamic system and run a simulation. The result is an endogenous migration hump with several peaks. In a counterfactual simulation we double aid with the result that for more than a hundred years migration is reduced and the GDP per capita is enhanced, because the positive effects of aid on investment and education dominate the negative direct effects of aid on growth and the unfavourable effects on savings, tax revenues, and labour force growth. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Remittances, Aid, Growth |
| JEL: | F22 F24 F35 F43 O11 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2008057&r=mig |
| By: | Joost de Laat |
| Abstract: | This paper tests for the endogeneity of one of the main elements separating different models of intrahousehold allocations, namely the household information set. Based on unusually rich data, I find that split migrant couples in the Nairobi slums invest considerable resources into information acquisition through visits, sibling and child monitoring, budget submissions, and marital search. I also find potentially substantial welfare losses when information acquisition becomes costly, not only through reduced remittances but more importantly as families opt for family migration into the slums. That households invest in information when there are welfare gains complements a large and growing literature that seeks to explain intrahousehold allocations through more complex modes of decision-making. |
| Keywords: | Survey Methods, Household production and Intrahousehold Allocation, Marriage, Family Structure, Migration |
| JEL: | F12 F15 F17 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0827&r=mig |
| By: | Richard Bedford (University of Waikato); Graeme Hugo (University of Adelaide) |
| Abstract: | Our contribution to the International Conference “Connecting Worlds: Emigration, Immigration and Development in Insular Spaces”, held in the Azores between 28 and 30 May 2008, examines contemporary mobility of Pacific peoples in a transnational context with reference to processes of out-migration, return, re-migration and the complex systems of circular mobility between island countries as well as to and from countries on the Pacific rim. There are some significant differences between parts of the Pacific region in terms of the access their peoples have to work and residence opportunities outside their island countries. These are reviewed with reference to some major challenges for development in the region: rapid growth of youthful populations; high levels of unemployment; limited markets for local produce; unsustainable levels of extraction of timber, fish and mineral resources; changing climates; and unstable governance systems in some countries. |
| Keywords: | Pacific Islands, population movement, transnational communities, development, return migration |
| JEL: | F16 F22 O56 |
| Date: | 2008–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:pscdps:dp-69&r=mig |
| By: | Blanchflower, David G. (Dartmouth College); Lawton, Helen (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact on the UK of the influx of workers from Eastern Europe. We look at the characteristics of the workers who have come to the UK since 2004. We also use data from a number of Eurobarometers 2004-2007 as well as the 2005 Work Orientation module International Social Survey Programme to look at the attitudes of residents of these countries. East Europeans report that they are unhappy with their lives and the country they live in, are dissatisfied with their jobs and would find difficulties in finding a new job or keeping their existing job. Relatively high proportions express a desire to move abroad. Expectations for the future for both their economy and their personal situations remain low but have improved since 2004. There has been some deterioration in the availability of jobs in the UK economy as the economy moves into recession. The UK is an attractive place to live and work for these workers. We argue that rather than dissipate, flows to the UK could remain strong well into the future. |
| Keywords: | EU expansion, migration, attitudes |
| JEL: | J61 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3695&r=mig |
| By: | Wahlberg, Roger (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines differences in wage distributions between natives, non-refugees, and refugees in Sweden. We find that the wage differentials between natives and non-refugee immigrants decrease across the distribution, while those between natives and refugee immigrants increase. There is evidence of a glass ceiling effect for refugee males in Sweden, and we also find evidence of a glass ceiling effect for native-born women and non-refugee women in the Swedish labor market in comparison with native-born and non-refugee men, respectively. In addition, there is evidence of a double disadvantage effect for refugee women in the Swedish labor market.<p> |
| Keywords: | Wage distribution; quantile regression; counterfactual distribution; natives; non-refugees; refugees |
| JEL: | J15 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0316&r=mig |
| By: | Abada, Teresa; Hou, Feng; Ram, Bali |
| Abstract: | À partir de l'Enquête sur la diversité ethnique de 2002, le présent article examine les différences de groupe selon l'origine nationale en ce qui a trait au niveau de scolarité universitaire chez les enfants d'immigrants au Canada. Nous avons déterminé que les enfants de parents immigrants de la plupart des groupes de régions d'origine affichent des taux de diplômation universitaire plus élevés que les enfants de parents nés au Canada, partiellement en raison du niveau de scolarité plus élevé de leurs parents. Les enfants des immigrants de la Chine et de l'Inde atteignent notamment des niveaux de scolarité plus élevés que les enfants de parents nés au Canada. Le niveau de scolarité des parents est également important pour expliquer les taux relativement faibles de diplômation universitaire chez les Portugais. |
| Keywords: | Éducation, formation et apprentissage, Diversité ethnique et immigration, Niveau de scolarité, Éducation, formation et compétences, Groupes ethniques et générations au Canada, Résultats éducationnels |
| Date: | 2008–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3f:2008308f&r=mig |
| By: | Aguayo-Tellez, Ernesto; Muendler, Marc-Andreas; Poole, Jennifer Pamela |
| Abstract: | We use novel linked employer?employee data to study the relationship between globalization and formal sector interstate migration for Brazil. We estimate the worker?s multichoice migration problem and document that previously unobserved employer covariates are significant predictors associated with migration flows. Our results provide support for the idea that globalization acts on internal migration through the growth of employment opportunities at locations with a high concentration of foreign owned establishments and the stability of employment at exporting establishments. A 1 per cent increase in the concentration of foreign owned establishments at potential migration destinations is associated with a 0.2 percentage point increase in the migration rate, and a 1 per cent increase in exporter employment predicts a 0.2 percentage point reduced probability of migration. |
| Keywords: | migration, globalization, policy reforms, Brazil |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-22&r=mig |
| By: | Eathington, Liesl; Swenson, David A. |
| Abstract: | The geographic concentration of the state’s minority population within a relatively small number of diverse neighborhoods suggests an additional important dimension for analysis and begs an important question: How do these racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods differ from less diverse areas of the state? Furthermore, what are the implications for these concentrations of racial or ethnic diversity for homeownership and business development? |
| JEL: | R0 |
| Date: | 2008–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12988&r=mig |
| By: | Wahlberg, Roger (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the part-time penalty for natives and immigrants in Sweden. We estimate an endogenous switching regression model, and the results indicate that there is evidence of self-selection into part-time and full-time jobs based on unobservable factors. Hence, individuals with full-time (part-time) jobs have unobserved characteristics that allow them to earn more (less) than average workers with full-time (part-time) jobs. We find that the adjusted part-time wage penalties are 20.9 percent for native males, 25.1 percent for immigrant men, 13.8 percent for native women, and 15.4 percent for immigrant women.<p> |
| Keywords: | Part-time penalty; selection bias; natives; immigrants |
| JEL: | J15 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0314&r=mig |