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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Katherine Meckel |
| Abstract: | I analyze remittance behavior among new legal immigrants in the US using a nationally representative survey of immigrants admitted to legal permanent residency in 2003. I find that the distribution of remittances is skewed to the right, with a small number of immigrants sending very large amounts. I find evidence against the pure altruism model and find that remittances may be used for investments in the home country. Using longitudinal data from the NIS, I construct a measure of permanent income and estimate remittance-income elasticities. I find that large country differentials in remittance behavior are only partially explained by observable characteristics of the donor, recipient and origin country. Future work will incorporate later waves of the 2003 NIS in order to observe return migration (and its relationship to remittance and home country investment decisions) and life cycle income-remittance movements. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-08-19&r=mig |
| By: | J. David Brown; Julie L. Hotchkiss; Myriam Quispe-Agnoli |
| Abstract: | Do firms employing undocumented workers have a competitive advantage? Using administrative data from the state of Georgia, this paper investigates the incidence of undocumented worker employment across firms and how it affects firm survival. Firms are found to engage in herding behavior, being more likely to employ undocumented workers if competitors do. Rivals' undocumented employment harms firms' ability to survive while firms' own undocumented employment strongly enhances their survival prospects. This finding suggests that firms enjoy cost savings from employing lower-paid undocumented at workers wages less than their marginal revenue product. The herding behavior and competitive effects are found to be much weaker in geographically broad product markets, where firms have the option to shift labor-intensive production out of state or abroad. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:2008-28&r=mig |
| By: | Wouterse, Fleur S. |
| Abstract: | "This paper uses data envelopment analysis and new data from Burkina Faso to test the impact of intercontinental and continental migration on technical efficiency in the production of two cereals—millet and sorghum—by rural households. Econometric evidence supports our theoretical expectation that the impact of emigration varies by migrant destination. I find evidence of a positive relation between continental migration and technical efficiency and a negative relation between intercontinental migration and technical efficiency. In an imperfect market environment, continental migration is associated with greater efficiency because it removes a male labor surplus; explanations for the negative relationship between intercontinental migration and technical efficiency should be sought in a surplus of female labor supply. Overall, findings suggest that migration does not lead to a transformation of cereal production from traditional to modern, because in an imperfect market environment, liquidity received in the form of remittances cannot compensate for labor shortfalls." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Migration, Rural households, Data envelopment analysis, Science and technology, Agricultural innovation, Cereal production, Institutional change, Innovation systems, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:815&r=mig |