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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Clémence Berson (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | The assimilation of immigrants and their children is a burning issue in France. Governments build a large part of their policies on the labor market. The public sector is reputed to integrate minorities better because of its entrance exams and pay-scales. In this paper, a comparison of the public and private sectors shows that second-generation immigrants are not treated equally. Those of African descent are discriminated against in both sectors even though selection issues are controlled for, whereas the wages of those of South European origin are similar to those of the French. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, wage gap, public and private sectors, France. |
| JEL: | C35 J31 J45 J71 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:09059&r=mig |
| By: | Alexander M. Danzer; Hulya Ulku |
| Abstract: | Using new data on 590 Turkish households in Berlin, we investigate the determinants and impact of integration on economic performance. We find that the usual suspects, such as time spent in Germany and education, have positive impact, while networks have no impact on integration. There is strong evidence that political integration and the degree of full integration promote income. Using endogenous switching regression models, we show that local familial networks increase the income of unintegrated migrant groups only, while transnational networks decrease it. We also find that education is more welfare-improving for integrated than non-integrated immigrants. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:7009&r=mig |
| By: | Martinoia, Michela |
| Abstract: | TThis paper has a double goal. On one side we want to evaluate the effect of economic integration on migration flows moving from the enlargement countries towards the EU-15; on the other, we want to analyse whether the migration flows had any impact over employment, real wages and labour force in the receiving countries of the European labour market. Due to the fact that economic integration can be observed in different real, monetary and financial phenomena, we refer to three of these to measure integration: trade openness, trade integration and financial market integration. These indicators have been inserted in a theoretical model that tries to explain labour market dynamics. The theoretical context that seemed the most suitable one to summarise European labour market characteristics is a modified version of the insider/outsider model proposed by Layard, Nickell and Jackman (LNJ, 1991). Another innovative contribution is the introduction of an equation modelling migration flows, whose creation is inspired to the neo-classic approach to the migration theory (Harris-Todaro, 1970). The model based on rational expectations is solved to find the equilibrium solution and the impact multipliers. Subsequently we estimated a structural VAR with the aim of both evaluating the impact that different shocks on integration measures have on migration flows, and measuring the type of effects that an increase in migration flows causes on the labour market. The estimates show that economic integration generate relevant effects on migration flows from the enlargement countries towards the EU-15 countries. Moreover, from the results emerge that migration flows generate an effect on the labour market. |
| Keywords: | European economic integration, labour market effects, migration |
| JEL: | E24 F15 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uca:ucapdv:136&r=mig |
| By: | Peter Huber (WIFO); Klaus Nowotny (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | We analyse determinants of duration of stay of cross-border commuters and migrants. Theory suggests that relative deprivation affects only intended duration of stay of migrants, but not of cross-border commuters. This is corroborated by econometric evidence. Also, return migrants and commuters are positively selected on education, networks are insignificant determinants of duration of stay while distance and education are more important for commuters' duration of stay. These results are robust over different estimation methods and apply both when measuring deprivation relative to friends and family and relative to the population residing in a region. |
| Date: | 2009–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2009:i:342&r=mig |
| By: | Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. (Australian National University); Sinning, Mathias (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of neighborhood diversity on the nativity gap in home-value appreciation in Australia. Specifically, immigrant homeowners experienced a 41.7 percent increase in median home values between 2001 and 2006, while the median value of housing owned by the native-born increased by 59.4 percent over the same period. We use a semi-parametric decomposition approach to assess the relative importance of the various determinants of home values in producing this gap. We find that the differential returns to housing wealth are not related to changes in the nature of the houses or the neighborhoods in which immigrants and native-born homeowners live. Rather, the gap stems from the fact that over time there were differential changes across groups in the hedonic prices (i.e., returns) associated with the underlying determinants of home values. |
| Keywords: | international migration, home-ownership, decomposition analysis |
| JEL: | F22 D31 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4464&r=mig |
| By: | Andrea Riedel (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal); Kerstin Schneider (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal and CESifo); Claudia Schuchart (ZBL, University of Wuppertal); Horst Weishaupt (DIPF, Frankfurt) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we look at school choice in primary schools in Germany. The data used is from Wuppertal, a major city in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), where school districts were abolished in 2008 to allow for free school choice. Here we look at the situation before 2008 to learn more about choice in the presence of school districts. Our analysis shows that it is not uncommon to visit a primary school that is not the assigned public school. Moreover, parents choose schools taking into account the distance to school, the quality and the socioeconomic composition of the school. Families from disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to send their children to the assigned school. A high percentage of migrants and/or economically disadvantaged families in the school district, however, induces parents to choose another school. Advantaged families make segregating choices, whereas the results for disadvantaged are not clear cut. The negative external effect of choice on the composition of the not chosen school is significant and the level of segregation in the primary schools is high and exceeds the level of residential segregation. |
| Keywords: | education system, segregation, school choice, denominational school, migration, socioeconomic status |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp09011&r=mig |
| By: | Wildasin, David (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: | Interjurisdictional flows of imperfectly-mobile migrants, investment, and other productive resources result in the costly dynamic adjustment of resource stocks. This paper investigates the comparative dynamics of adjustment to changes in local fiscal policy with two imperfectly mobile productive resources. The intertemporal adjustments for both resources depend on complementarity/substitutability in production and the adjustment cost technologies for each, implying that the evaluation of the fiscal treatment of one resource must account for the simultaneous adjustment of both. |
| Keywords: | fiscal competition, labor mobility, capital mobility, comparative dynamics |
| JEL: | H22 H71 H87 J61 R58 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4463&r=mig |
| By: | Alejandro Grimson |
| Abstract: | This essay explores in a socioeconomic crisis context whether the forms of articulating and disarticulating class and ethnicity in popular neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires have changed. During the 90s, amidst increasing unemployment and social exclusion, and coupled with very few possibilities for organising or political mobilisation, social processes tended to lead to the fracturing of groups and their demands. In lower class neighbourhoods, with a strong presence of immigrants from Bolivia and Paraguay, the scarcity of resources and the daily struggles for access to them was increasingly tied to xenophobic attitudes and actions. The flipside of these processes of ethnic segregation was the sustained growth of border-immigrant organisations, their festivals, their presence on low frequency radio stations, their football leagues, and other similar activities and networks. As the context changed, it was also necessary to ask whether dynamics of differentiation, which involved the culturalisation of the popular sectors’ demands, had been accentuated, or whether a new situation had developed. The research presented aims find out whether the main identifying categories, and the signifiers to which people refer when they form groups to participate in the political arena, have changed. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:9409&r=mig |
| By: | Kao-Lee Liaw; Ji-Ping Lin; Chien-Chia Liu |
| Abstract: | In light of the entrenchment of sub-replacement fertility and the sharp increase in the stock of foreign wives in Taiwan in recent years, this research studies the reproductive contributions of Taiwan’s foreign wives from the top five source countries (China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines), based mainly on an application of a multinomial logit model to the micro data of the 2003 census of foreign wives. Our main findings are as follows. First, the overall fertility level of the foreign wives was probably somewhat higher than that of the native-born women and definitely lower than the replacement level. Second, among the five nationalities, those from China were much less reproductive than those from the other countries, mainly because the former were more prone to (1) having a rather old marriage age, (2) having a very large spousal age gap, (3) being separated or divorced, (4) having their current marriage being their second marriage, and (5) having a veteran as the husband. Third, among the four Southeast Asian nationalities, those from Indonesia and the Philippines were more reproductive than those from Thailand and Vietnam. This contrast was a muted reflection of the fertility difference in countries of origin. Fourth, for every nationality, marriage duration and marriage age were the most powerful explanatory factors and must be included in the model to avoid getting misleading estimated coefficients of other less powerful explanatory factors, whereas current age was a spurious factor that should not be used in the model. Fifth, in the context of marriage duration and marriage age, the explanatory factors with rather strong explanatory powers for at least one nationality included spousal age gap, marital status, remarriage status, co-residence with parent, and wife’s employment status. Sixth, the expected negative effect of wife’s educational attainment on lifetime fertility turned out to be either non-existent or modest. In particular, it had practically no effect on the probability of being childless. These findings implied that getting better educated foreign wives could increase the quality of their children with little or no reduction in the number of their children and in their probability of being childless |
| Keywords: | ASEAN countries, China, international marriage, international migration, fertility, Taiwan |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:sedapp:258&r=mig |
| By: | Beck, Thorsten; Peria, Maria Soledad Martinez |
| Abstract: | Remittances are a sizeable source of external financing for developing countries. In the L’Aquila 2009 G8 Summit, leaders pledged to reduce the cost of remittances by half in 5 years (from 10 to 5 percent). Yet, empirically, little is known about what drives the cost of remittances. Using newly gathered data across 119 country corridors, this paper explores the factors that determine the cost of remittances. Considering average costs across all types of institutions, the authors find that corridors with larger numbers of migrants and more competition among remittances service providers exhibit lower costs. By contrast, remittance costs are higher in richer corridors and in corridors with greater bank participation in the remittances market. Comparing results across all banks and all money transfer operators separately, the analysis finds few significant differences. However, estimations for Western Union, a leading player in the remittances business, suggest that this firm’s prices are insensitive to competition. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Remittances,Access to Finance,Debt Markets,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5072&r=mig |
| By: | Rao, B.Bhaskara; Hassan, Gazi |
| Abstract: | Many development economists believe that remittances by the migrant workers are an important source of long rum growth. Therefore, recent studies have investigated the indirect and direct effects remittances on the growth rates of the recipient countries. This paper analyses the strength of these effects with a common data set and with alternative methods of estimation. It is found that while the evidence supports the indirect effects of remittances, the direct growth effects of remittances seem to be insignificant. |
| Keywords: | Remittances; Growth; Panel Data; System GMM |
| JEL: | F22 F43 |
| Date: | 2009–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18021&r=mig |
| By: | Jeffrey A. Frankel |
| Abstract: | By putting together a relatively large data set on bilateral remittances of emigrants, this paper is able to shed light on the important hypothesis of smoothing. The smoothing hypothesis is that remittances are countercyclical with respect to income in the worker’s country of origin (the recipient of the remittance), while procyclical with respect to income in the migrant’s host country (the sender of the remittance). The econometric results confirm the hypothesis. This affirmation of smoothing is important for two reasons. First, it suggests that remittances should be placed on the list of criteria for an optimum currency area. Second, it sheds light on plans by governments in some developing countries to harness remittances for their own use, in that government spending in these countries generally fails the test of countercyclicality that remittances pass. |
| JEL: | F24 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15419&r=mig |
| By: | Neagu , Ileana C.; Schiff, Maurice |
| Abstract: | That remittances are a stable source of external finance seems to have become the received wisdom. In addition, many studies have found remittances to behave counter-cyclically, increasing during crises and times of hardship for the recipient countries. Are remittances reliable macroeconomic stabilizers? To answer this question, the present study examines the stability, cyclicality, and stabilizing impact of remittances in comparison with the same three features for other foreign-exchange inflows, namely foreign direct investment and official development aid. The analysis is performed at the country and regional levels rather than at the aggregate or global level (on which much of the received wisdom rests), because policymakers are concerned with the impact of remittances in their country rather than at the global level. The main findings for 1980-2007 are that in a majority of countries: i) official development aid is more stable than remittances, and remittances are more stable than foreign direct investment; ii) official development aid is counter-cyclical, while remittances are pro-cyclical, although less so than foreign direct investment; and iii) official development aid is stabilizing and remittances are destabilizing, although less so than foreign direct investment. The paper suggests that it is necessary to examine counter-cyclicality separately from the stabilizing impact, as the former does not seem to always imply the latter. |
| Keywords: | Economic Conditions and Volatility,Remittances,Debt Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5077&r=mig |
| By: | Simona Monteleone (Department of Economic Studies, Parthenope University of Naples) |
| Abstract: | Has brain drain either negative or positive effect on the development and growth of those left behind? This paper shows empirical and theoretical relevance of the phenomenon and reviews both traditional literature and recent contributions about brain drain’s effects. First generation models consider brain drain dangerous for the country of origin, underlining effects on wage, employment and growth; whilst recent literature shows positive effects on population and holds brain drain increases human capital accumulation, as main driver for economic growth. |
| Keywords: | migrazione qualificata, capitale umano, crescita |
| Date: | 2009–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prt:wpaper:2_2009&r=mig |
| By: | Fausto Britto (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | This note presents a brief historical review of the food issue in Brazil, in order to allow understanding how the initial process of food production, regional differences and the development of public policies for the food supply contributed to the current food situation in Brazil. Major research findings that addressed the topic are highlighted. Data revealed improvements in indicators of malnutrition. |
| Keywords: | migration |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td366&r=mig |