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on Economics of Human Migration |
| By: | Bart de Bruijn |
| Abstract: | In the study of international mobility, refugees make up a very specific population. In contrast to most migrants, forcibly displaced persons have little opportunity for expanding livelihoods, and are usually faced with realities that deny them a dignified life and fulfilment of their capabilities. In many situations, people who left their homes to escape from persecution, armed conflict or violence face restrictive policies of the countries in which they found refuge and become critically dependent on humanitarian assistance. This paper describes living conditions and wellbeing of refugees – and more particularly camp-based refugees – in six countries with protracted refugee conditions: Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya in Africa, and Nepal, Bangladesh and Thailand in Asia. It primarily draws on UNHCR’s ‘Standards and Indicators’ data. Thematic areas covered in the paper include legal protection, gender-related issues, food security and nutritional status, health, education, and refugee livelihoods and coping strategies. The assessment of refugees’ living conditions proceeds along two different perspectives. The first is a gap analysis based on UNHCR standards, which are largely in line with SPHERE standards. The second is a comparison of refugees’ living conditions with those of host populations in the country of asylum and with those of populations on the country of origin. The available data lead to the conclusion that the living conditions of refugees vary across thematic areas and are strongly contextualised, depending on a complex of social, economic, political and attitudinal factors. There is also evidence that despite often grim conditions, at times the targeted efforts of humanitarian assistance and own coping strategies produce situations for refugees that are relatively better than that of the local hosting communities or the population in the region of origin. |
| Keywords: | human development, human mobility, migration, poverty |
| JEL: | O1 I3 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-25&r=mig |
| By: | Mary Kritz; Douglas Gurak |
| Abstract: | Immigrants living in new destinations in 1995 were 2.5 times more likely to undertake a labor market migration by 2000 as those living in traditional places. This paper looks at two competing explanations for immigrants’ differential secondary migration, namely nativity concentration versus labor market context. Utilizing confidential Census data for 1990 and 2000, we examine out-migration from 741 labor markets that cover the entire country and develop new destination classifications specific to the growth and composition patterns of foreign-born from the largest Asian, Latin American and Caribbean foreign-born groups, and Canadians. The hypothesis guiding the analysis was that immigrants would be less likely to leave labor markets that have both robust economic conditions and high levels of compatriot affinity as measured by nativity concentration. The combined and group models provide strong support for the argument that immigrant’s out-migration decisions respond both to local labor market economic conditions and compatriot availability, net of human capital and national origin. |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:10-09&r=mig |
| By: | Francisco Rodriguez (Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme); Rodrigo Wagner (Economics Department of Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | For how long does cultural heritage persist? Do the culturally inherited values of immigrants dilute as generations pass? We answer these question by studying the relationship between revealed political behavior of immigrant families and the culture of the place where they migrated from, either one or many generations ago. Using surnames as indicators of region of origin of Italians in Venezuela, we study the effect of cultural heritage on two indicators of revealed political behavior: (i) propensity for civic engagement, and (ii) propensity for redistribution. A well established literature documents greater propensity for civic engagement and lower propensity for redistribution among Northern Italians. In Venezuela, we measure the former by turnout before the era of political polarization and the latter by signing behavior against Hugo Chávez in the 2004 recall referendum drive. Despite the fact that the wave of Italian immigration to Venezuela occurred more than half a century before the events studied in this paper, we do not find a greater propensity for civic engagement nor preference against redistribution among descendants from Northern as opposed to Southern Italians, suggesting that cultural assimilation may be a strong determinant of political behavior in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Social capital, political incorporation of immigrants, family economics, redistribution, political preferences, civic engagement, Latin America |
| JEL: | Z1 F22 P26 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-40&r=mig |
| By: | Hatton, Timothy J. (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | This is a survey of some of the key studies in the literature on international migration in history that may be described as cliometric. This literature uses the concepts and approaches of applied economics to investigate a range of historical issues and there are strong parallels with the questions that have been addressed in the literature on contemporary migrations. Here I focus on the period 1850 to 1940 and chiefly on migration from Europe to the New World. The survey is organised around six themes that include: the forces driving migration, over time and across space; the assimilation of migrants and their effects on wages and income distribution in source and destination countries; and the evolution of immigration policy. While this literature has drawn heavily on the tool kit of applied economists it also provides a wider perspective on many of the issues that concern migration today. |
| Keywords: | international migration, economic history |
| JEL: | F22 N30 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4900&r=mig |
| By: | Kirdar, Murat G. (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how immigrants' migration duration and saving decisions in the host country respond to the purchasing power parity (ppp) and the wage ratio between the host and source countries. It is shown that in theory immigrants may stay longer in the host country as a result of an increase in ppp, in particular those with a high willingness to substitute consumption intertemporally. However, the empirical results from immigrants in Germany reveal that optimal migration duration decreases in ppp. Holding individual immigrant characteristics constant, immigrants from poorer source countries have shorter migration duration than immigrants from wealthier source countries. The empirical results also reveal that saving rate increases in ppp. |
| Keywords: | international migration, immigrant workers |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4899&r=mig |
| By: | Lozano, Fernando A. (Pomona College); Lopez, Mary J. (Occidental College) |
| Abstract: | Since 1986 the United States has made considerable efforts to curb illegal immigration. This has resulted in an increase in migration costs for undocumented immigrants. More stringent border enforcement either deters potential illegal immigrants from coming to the U.S., or moves the point of crossing for illegal immigrants from traditional crossing routes to more inhospitable routes. These changes are likely to place a heavier burden on illegal immigrant women as they are more likely to be kidnapped, smuggled, or raped when crossing illegally. If migration costs are not the same for all migrants, higher migrating costs may result in a change in the number and in the composition of immigrants to the United States. In the face of higher migration costs, only immigrants with relatively high expected benefits of migration will choose to migrate. Based on our theoretical model, we test for three empirical results that are associated with a stronger selection of immigrant women from Mexico relative to men as a result of higher migration costs: 1) A decrease in the relative flow of older and highly educated undocumented immigrant women relative to men; 2) A change in the skill composition of immigrant women to men; and 3) An increase in the average earnings of those groups most affected by increased migration costs. Using data from the 1990, 2000 Decennial Census, and from the 2006-2008 American Community Survey we empirically confirm these predictions. |
| Keywords: | immigration, gender, selection, border enforcement |
| JEL: | J1 J2 J3 J6 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4898&r=mig |
| By: | Philip Martin (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of international migration in the Asia-Pacific region and reviews internal migration in China. After putting Asia-Pacific migration in a global context, it reviews trends in migration and the impacts of migrants in the major migrantreceiving countries, patterns of migration and their development impacts in migrant-sending countries, the human development impacts of migration, and three policy issues, viz, new seasonal worker programs for Pacific Islanders in New Zealand and Australia, required local sponsorship of foreigners in the Gulf countries, and the economic effects of migrants in the US and Thailand. Recent trends in internal migration in China, which shares attributes of international migration because of the hukou (household registration) system, are also assessed. |
| Keywords: | International labor migration, migrant workers, guest workers, Asia |
| JEL: | O1 O15 J0 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-32&r=mig |
| By: | Ahmet Içduygu (Department of International Relations and Director of the Migration Research Program at Koç University (MiReKoc)) |
| Abstract: | As often argued, a negative perception of immigration, or even emigration, prevails public opinions and governments in most countries. It is argued that caused by economic hardship or political hardship or political unrest in countries of origin, it would threaten well-being and identity in countries of destination, and sometimes endanger political security. However, on the other hand, social scientists recognize that, being a part of the global circulation and global integration, human mobility bears a tremendous potential for human progress. This view is increasingly shared by several actors for which adequate policies could make migration a genuine instrument for economic and social development. Therefore, the conditions under which, and the mechanisms through which, migration can transform individual benefits into an aggregated one, for the greater society, are to be studied. From this perspective, Turkey provides us with an interesting case study; firstly because of its multiple migration roles as a country of emigration, immigration and transit, over time; secondly because, this ongoing flows of emigration and immigration involve various stages of a migration cycle; thirdly because, this migration cycle reflects, both explicitly and implicitly, some gains, and occasionally loses, both for the country and its people, migrants and non-migrants; and finally because of Turkey’s longestablished EU-membership process which highlights various types of migration issues. This report provides us with an overview of some aspects of migration-development nexus in the case of Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Development, emigration, immigration, remittances, migration cycle, Turkey, European Union |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F2 F22 F24 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-52&r=mig |
| By: | Kathleen Newland (Migration Policy Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the human development implications of circular migration — both where it occurs naturally and where governments work to create it. The paper discusses various conceptions and definitions of circular migration, and concludes that circular migration is not intrinsically positive or negative in relation to human development; its impact depends upon the circumstances in which it occurs, the constraints that surround it and—above all—the degree of choice that individuals can exercise over their own mobility. The human-development lens distinguishes between de facto circular migration and circular migration that occurs within the parameters of government programs. |
| Keywords: | Circular migration, dual citizenship, forced migrants, guest workers, labor markets, mobility, seasonal migration, temporary migration, visa regimes |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F2 F16 F22 J0 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-42&r=mig |
| By: | Pedro Pita Barros (Department of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal)); Isabel Medalho Pereira (Human Development Report Office (UNDP)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the performance of immigrants relative to natives, in terms of their health status, use of health care services, lifestyles, and coverage of health expenditures. We base the analysis on international evidence that identified a healthy immigrant effect, complemented by empirical research on the Portuguese National Health Survey. Furthermore, we assess whether differences in health performance depend on the personal characteristics of the individuals or can be directly associated with their migration experience. |
| Keywords: | Migration, health status, health care, healthy immigrant effect, Portugal |
| JEL: | O1 O15 C3 C33 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-28&r=mig |
| By: | Rafis Abazov (Harriman Institute/SIPA at Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses recent migration trends in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Within the last decade (1999-2009) the Russian Federation became the world’s second largest recipient of migrants after the United States, while the Ukraine became the fourth largest and Kazakhstan became the ninth largest. Such large-scale population movement, which includes a significant number of labour migrants from resource-poor to resource-rich states in the region, has had an inevitable impact on the social, economic and human development in both source and host countries. By 2007-2009 Moldova, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have develop a high dependency on international money transfers from their labour migrants, having the world’s highest ratio of remittances to their GDP. During last few years numerous studies focused on migration issues within the CIS region, yet there are a number of problems to be still explored: What are the “push” and “pull” factors that motivate this large-scale migration? What are the current trends in the labour migration in the CIS? What are the short-term and long-term implications of the current migration trends for migrants and their families? What is the impact of the migration on human development in the region, including poverty reduction, social and gender equality, education and health? The paper addresses these and other questions. First, it evaluates the historical, political and social background and demographic context of the population movement in the region, which has become one of the most important determinants of migration during the recent times. Second, it overviews the most important push and pull factors that have affected migration during recent years and different types of migration responses to the social and economic pressures in sending and receiving countries. Third, it reviews the major impacts of the population movement on human development in the CIS region. In conclusion the paper summarizes the major findings and provides policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | labour migration, regional labour market, human development, poverty, migration policy, remittances, rural-urban migration, urbanization, CIS, Kazakhstan, and Russia |
| JEL: | O1 O15 J0 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-36&r=mig |
| By: | Rachel Sabates-Wheeler (Centre for Social Protection at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to explore how irregular status impacts a range of human development outcomes for labour migrants. The analysis indicates that for poorer labour migrants, irregular (or undocumented) migration provides a positive, private return to income and livelihood improvements for themselves and their families as compared to 1) no movement at all, and at times, 2) regular (or documented) migration. However, irregular status is associated with a range of forms of disadvantage and vulnerabilities that often compromise migrants’ rights, entitlements and the rate of return they achieve from the migration process. Migrants are as rational as other members of the population and, being aware of these vulnerabilities, many still choose to migrate. The larger hypothesis of this paper is that, as long as poverty drives migration, legal status will not be a priority for migrants. Migrants will be willing to endure short to medium term hardship and the undermining of a range of capabilities and rights (such as education, social assets, rights and personal welfare) to provide economic safety nets for their families and future improvements to their (and their families) livelihoods and wellbeing. As long as migrants on average achieve a positive increase in income and assets through the migration experience (which they do) they will sacrifice a whole range of freedoms and rights. It is therefore imperative that policy makers make active steps to protect migrants with regard to basic human rights and facilitate positive outcomes from their migration experiences. In particular, we urge southern governments to advocate for all their migrants abroad, regardless of legal status. If southern country governments accept the mainstream opinion that migration is good for development, and furthermore recognise that a substantial number, if not the majority, of their migrants are irregular, and continue sending remittances and investment, then governments should seek to protect their citizens aboard, facilitate safe remittances, and begin to stand firm in the face of pressure to control national borders. |
| Keywords: | Irregular status, migration, vulnerability, poverty, protection |
| JEL: | O1 O15 Z1 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-26&r=mig |
| By: | Jeni Klugman (Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme); Isabel Medalho Pereira (Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an internationally comparable assessment of several dimensions of migration policies as of early 2009. For a selected set of 28 countries, both developed and developing, we analyse the admission criteria, policies on integration and treatment of migrants, and efforts to enforce those policies. Irregular migration is a particular area of focus. The analysis distinguishes between different entry regimes, namely: labour migrants (high or low skilled, with a permanent or a temporary permit), those who move with a family-related visa, humanitarian migrants (asylum seekers and refugees), international visitors and international students. The data is drawn from an assessment by country experts as well as by desk-research of HDRO staff. |
| Keywords: | Migration policies, admission, treatment, enforcement |
| JEL: | O1 O15 J0 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-48&r=mig |
| By: | Kirdar, Murat G. (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I estimate the fiscal impact of immigrants on the German pension insurance (PI) and unemployment insurance (UI) systems when return migration is an endogenous choice. For this purpose, I develop a dynamic stochastic model of joint return migration and saving decisions that accounts for uncertainty in future employment and income and estimate this model using a longitudinal data set on immigrants from five different source countries. I find that allowing for the endogeneity of the return decision makes a substantial difference in the net gain of the PI and UI systems from immigrants. Exogenous return migration – which has been the practice of the literature so far – underestimates the net gain for almost all demographic groups and the amount of underestimation is remarkable for several demographic groups. In addition, age-at-arrival profiles of net contributions of immigrants – which form the basis of suggestions on selective immigration policies in the literature – are rotated significantly. Finally, a counterfactual policy experiment in which cash bonuses are provided conditional on return to unemployed immigrants turns out be ineffective in terms of reducing the burden on the state coffers for most demographic groups. |
| Keywords: | immigrant workers, life cycle models, saving, social security, public pensions, unemployment insurance, public policy |
| JEL: | J61 D91 H55 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4894&r=mig |
| By: | Sylvie Demurger (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines); Hui Xu (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes return migrants' occupational choice upon their return to their home village, by using an original rural household survey conducted in Wuwei county (Anhui province, China) in 2008. We apply two complementary approaches : a horizontal comparative analysis of occupational choice between non-migrants and return migrants, and a vertical investigation of the impact of migration experience on returnees only. Two main findings are drawn up from the estimation of probit models which account for potential selection bias and endogeneity. First, return migrants are more likely to be self-employed and to opt for higher ability jobs than non-migrants. Second, both return savings and the frequency of job changes during migration increase the likelihood for return migrants to become self-employed. These findings suggest that (a) working experience during migration enhances individual's human capital and entrepreneurial ability, and (b) repatriated migration experience is a key stimulating factor in promoting rural entrepreneur activity. |
| Keywords: | Return migrants ; occupational change ; entrepreneurship ; Asia ; China |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00477241_v1&r=mig |
| By: | Dominique van der Mensbrugghe (Development Prospects Group (DECPG) at the World Bank); David Roland-Holst (University of California, Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | Global labor markets have evolved dramatically in the last several decades and will continue to so for some time to come, driven by changing population demographics, economic globalization, dramatic changes in transportation technology, and accelerating institutional change. All these characteristics of migration make it an essential policy issue for the human development agenda. The United Nations Human Development Report for 2009 intends to provide a forward-looking assessment of global labor market dynamics, with particular reference to the effects of increased labor mobility on global patterns of employment and output. To date, the most rigorous analysis of this subject is the World Bank Global Prospect Group’s forecasts with their Global Economic Prospects Linkage model. This report describes how an update of the GEP model captures more detailed information on global labor movements and heterogeneity, and reports new projections on global migration patterns. These results suggest complex market interactions between migrants and resident workers, whether native or migrant, and between labor and other factors of production. For example reducing migration raises the premium on migrant labor in the destination countries, while lowering the relative return to capital. The first effect makes for higher real income, consumption, and remittances for migrants of both types. For native populations in high income countries, the negative capital income effect dominates the wage effect of reduced competition from migrants. It is perhaps ironic that reducing labor competition is more beneficial to migrants, who lack the capital income and thereby gain absolutely from rising relative wages. Of course one of the primary demand drivers for migrants is the desire to profit from using capital resources more fully within high income economies. In OECD economies, pension schemes guarantee that a significant part of these profits accrue indirectly to native workers. Taken together, these results strongly support the argument that migration has beneficial growth effects on global real economic activity, improving the efficiency of international resource allocation for the benefit of both sending and receiving countries. However, these reassuring aggregate results mask more complex interactions in domestic labor markets, and there will inevitably be both winners and losers from the ensuing structural adjustments. Having said this, the existence of substantial aggregate gains, particularly new fiscal resources for the public sector, suggests the prospect of adjustment assistance to offset adverse impacts. |
| Keywords: | Migration, globalization, North-South |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F1 F16 J01 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-50&r=mig |
| By: | Jorge Durand (University of Guadalajara and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica (CIDE)) |
| Abstract: | The main characteristic of the Latin American migration on the 20th century was the change of flow. Until the 1950s, Latin America received migrants from Europe and the Middle East. As a result of economic change, political instability, and economic crisis, Latin America started exporting migrant workers. Now, Latin American migrants mainly go to the U.S., and in less extend to Europe (i.e. Spain, Italy, and Portugal), and in some cases to Japan as it is the case of Peru and Brazil. Several migrant patterns follow this process, which is characteristic to the massive emigration at the dawn of the 21st century. |
| Keywords: | Latin America, immigration, emigration, United States, Europe |
| JEL: | O1 O15 Z1 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-24&r=mig |
| By: | Douglas Massey (Princeton University); Magaly Sánchez R. (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | The United States is presently characterized by rising anti-immigrant sentiment, repressive immigration enforcement, and the negative framing of Latinos as threatening and undesirable. As a result, social boundaries between immigrants and natives have hardened and boundary crossing has become more difficult. Under these circumstances, the prediction of classical assimilation theory is turned on its head: the more time that immigrants spend in the United States and the more contact they have with Americans and American society, the more aware they become of the harsh realities of prejudice and discrimination and the more they come to experience the rampant inequalities of the secondary labor market. Rather than ideologically assimilating, therefore, the greater their experience in the United States, the more likely immigrants are to express a reactive ethnicity that rejects the label “American.” Our work suggests that the greatest threat to the successful assimilation of immigrants comes not from foreign involvements or transnational loyalties, but from the rejection, exclusion, and discrimination that immigrants experience in the United States. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Exclusion, Discrimination, Latinos, Identity |
| JEL: | O1 O15 Z1 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-43&r=mig |
| By: | Gindling, T. H. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County); Poggio, Sara Z. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) |
| Abstract: | For many immigrants, especially those from Central America and Mexico, it is common for a mother or father (or both) to migrate to the United States and leave their children behind. Then, after the parent(s) have achieved some degree of stability in the United States, the children follow. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we examined the hypothesis that separation during migration results in problems at school after re-unification. We find that children separated from parents during migration are more likely to be behind others their age in school and are more likely to drop out of high school. |
| Keywords: | immigrant children, education, family separation |
| JEL: | I2 J13 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4887&r=mig |
| By: | Kristina A. Schapiro (Monitor Group, London) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of migration on educational outcomes of children. It looks at the outcomes of internationally as well as internally migrating children and identifies the specific barriers they face in access to quality schooling. It discusses the various channels through which migration affects the education and wellbeing of non-migrant children in migrant households. It subsequently examines the variations in educational attainment of second-generation migrant children. To conclude, the paper recognizes the policy challenges surrounding the migration-education linkage and considers some of the strategies that have been implemented to improve the schooling outcomes of children affected by migration. |
| Keywords: | Migration, children, education, human capital, human development, policy |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F22 F2 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-57&r=mig |
| By: | Marieke Kleemans (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley); Jeni Klugman (Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme) |
| Abstract: | Migration is a controversial issue. Reading of the popular media in virtually any country, alongside an array of opinion polls suggest that residents see controls on immigration as essential and that people would prefer to see existing rules on entry tightened rather than relaxed. This stands in contrast to the evidence which points to significant gains for movers and, in many cases, benefits also for destination and origin countries – as reviewed in the forthcoming Human Development Report 2009. This paper makes several important contributions to an already rich literature about public opinion and migration. It highlights that attitudes are not as monochrome as might initially appear. A more detailed analysis of the nature, patterns and correlates of opinions toward migration in both developed and developing countries shows that values favourable toward diversity are in fact widely held, albeit with important variations. We also cast important light on how policies toward migration and underlying structural characteristics affect attitudes. Moreover, as many migrants do not end up in developed or OECD countries, public opinions in developing countries are of interest. As far as we are aware, this paper is the first published attempt to explore attitudes in countries in all parts of the human development spectrum. While the data investigated is largely drawn from 2005/2006, we frame key questions in both a longer term perspective, and highlight attitudes towards migrants when jobs are scarce, which has heightened relevance during periods of recession. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, human development, public opinion |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F2 F22 J1 J15 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-53&r=mig |
| By: | Priya Deshingkar (Overseas Development Institute, London); Shaheen Akter (Overseas Development Institute, London) |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses how gaps in both the data on migration and the understanding of the role of migration in livelihood strategies and economic growth in India, have led to inaccurate policy prescriptions and a lack of political commitment to improving the living and working conditions of migrants. Field evidence from major migrant employing sectors is synthesised to show that circular migration is the dominant form of economic mobility for the poor; especially the lower castes and tribes. The authors argue that the human costs of migration are high due to faulty implementation of protective legislation and loopholes in the law and not due to migration per se. The paper discusses child labour in specific migration streams in detail stressing that this issue needs to be addressed in parallel. It also highlights the non-economic drivers and outcomes of migration that need to be considered when understanding its impacts. The authors calculate that there are roughly 100 million circular migrants in India contributing 10% to the national GDP. New vulnerabilities created by the economic recession are discussed. Detailed analysis of village resurveys in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are also presented and these show conclusively that migration is an important route out of poverty. |
| Keywords: | India; circular migration; caste; tribe; child labour; human development |
| JEL: | Z1 O1 O15 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-13&r=mig |
| By: | Emmanuel Letouzé (Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme); Mark Purser (Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme); Francisco Rodríguez (Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme); Matthew Cummins (Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents empirical estimates of a gravity model of bilateral migration that properly accounts for non-linearities and tackles causality issues through an instrumental variables approach. In contrast to the existing literature, which is limited to OECD data, we have estimated our model using a matrix of bilateral migration stocks for 127 countries. We find that the inverted-U relationship between income at origin and migration found by other authors survives the more demanding bilateral specification but does not survive both instrumentation and introduction of controls for the geographical and cultural proximity between country pairs. We also evaluate the effect of migration on origin and destination country income using the geographically determined component of migration as a source of exogenous variation and fail to find a significant effect of migration on origin or destination income. |
| Keywords: | human development, human mobility, migration, poverty |
| JEL: | F16 F22 O15 O19 O57 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-44&r=mig |
| By: | Partha Deb (Department of Economics, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York); Papa Seck (Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to measure the returns to migration using non-experimental data taking both observed and unobserved characteristics into account. A significant challenge related to migration research and the issues of unobserved heterogeneity is that the standard 2stage least squares estimator (2SLS) is strictly only applicable to situations with linear and continuous treatment and outcomes, both of which are not appropriate for models of migration and many outcomes of interest. Furthermore, migration is not always a binary process given that people migrate to city or non-city locations and some migrants do return. Introducing these multinomial treatment effects means that one cannot rely on standard 2SLS methods. Using panel data from Indonesia (Indonesia Family Life Survey—IFLS) and Mexico (Mexican Family Life Survey— MxFLS) and applying non-linear instrumental variable (Heckman’s treatment effects model) and maximum simulated likelihood models, we measure the impacts of migration on a broad range of variables that include socio economic outcomes such as consumption, nutrition, health status and emotional well-being for adult household members and health and schooling outcomes for children. We find consistent results for both countries that point to significant trade-offs related to migration. We found that migration can greatly improve socio-economic status through increases in income or consumption but can also be detrimental to the health status and emotional well-being of migrants and/or their extended families. |
| Keywords: | Migration, selection, non-linear instrumental variables, consumption, socio-economic mobility, health, education |
| JEL: | O1 O15 C3 C8 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-31&r=mig |
| By: | Francesca Mazzolari (Department of Economics of the University of California, Irvine); David Numark (Department of Economics of the University of California, Irvine) |
| Abstract: | We study potential economic benefits of immigration stemming from two factors: first, that immigrants bring not only their labor supply with them, but also their consumption demands; and second, that immigrants may have a comparative advantage in the production of ethnic goods. Using data on the universe of business establishments located in California between 1992 and 2002 matched with Census of Population data, we find some evidence that immigrant inflows boost employment in the retail sector, which is non-traded and a non-intensive user of immigrant labor. We find that immigration is associated with fewer stand-alone retail stores, and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers – evidence that likely contradicts a diversityenhancing effect of immigration. On the other hand, focusing more sharply on the restaurant sector, for which we can better identify the types of products consumed by customers, the evidence indicates that immigration is associated with increased ethnic diversity of restaurants. |
| Keywords: | Effects of immigration, ethnic goods, consumption diversitY |
| JEL: | O1 O15 E2 J0 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-33&r=mig |
| By: | Richard Black (Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty and Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex); Jon Sward (Development Research Centre on Migration) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the specific question of how Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) address migration and its potential to enhance human development at the national level. Based on a review of PRSPs completed since 1999, it argues that migration often remains poorly recognised or analysed in poorer countries in terms of its impacts on poverty reduction, whilst attitudes towards migration in these countries are often highly negative and/or based on limited evidence, especially in relation to internal migration. Analysis of how both internal and international migration are treated in PRSPs is also placed in the context of a broader understanding of the purpose of, and constraints faced by the PRS process. The paper goes on to highlight the extent to which in Sub-Saharan African countries, successive drafts of PRSPs have shown increasing attention to migration. It also considers how analysis of the problems and opportunities associated with different types of migration are converted into policy initiatives, highlighting the lack of good practice in terms of the incorporation of migration into human development policy. |
| Keywords: | Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), internal migration, international migration, sub-Saharan Africa, analysis of migration |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-38&r=mig |
| By: | Carneiro, Anabela (University of Porto); Fortuna, Natércia (University of Porto); Varejão, José (University of Porto) |
| Abstract: | Using matched employer-employee data, we identify the determinants of immigrants’ earnings in the Portuguese labor market. Results previously reported for countries with a long tradition of hosting migrants are also valid in a new destination country. Two-thirds of the gap is attributable to match-specific and employer characteristics. Occupational downgrading and segregation into low-wage workplaces are two major causes behind the wage gap. |
| Keywords: | immigrants' earnings, workplace concentration of immigrants, matched employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4892&r=mig |
| By: | George Gray Molina (Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme); Ernesto Yañez (Central Bank of Bolivia) |
| Abstract: | Over half of Bolivian heads of household are lifetime migrants. This paper looks at the long term impact of internal migration over human development in Bolivia. Three issues frame these effects. First, twenty five years of rural to urban migration have transformed the demographic profile of Bolivian society. The new middle third is younger, more bilingual and better educated, with more access to social services than in the past. The poorest of the poor, however, did not migrate to the extent of the non-poor. Second, urban workers make approximately four times as much wages as identical workers in rural areas, controlling for age, ethnicity, and years of schooling. Two caveats dampen this place premium effect: schooling quality and informal insurance mechanisms that make migration more costly. Third, increases in human development can be associated to an “urbanization dividend” that made social services more accessible to first and second generation migrants over a twenty-five year period. Future increases in human development, however, are likely to depend on providing quality services and expanding socials services to the rural poor, rather on gains from urbanization. The key policy challenges of the future include both an expansion of services to the poorest of the poor in rural areas and breaking down discrimination barriers against women and indigenous people in urban labor markets. |
| Keywords: | Migration, human development, poverty, employment, schooling |
| JEL: | J11 O15 I32 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-46&r=mig |
| By: | Manjula Luthria (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Most small fragile states have their own unique circumstances that predispose them to social conflict or frequent economic disruptions. These disruptions end up imposing a large cost on regional neighbours and on the international community more broadly. Therefore the development community is in search of ways to reduce the risk of conflict but this search has proved elusive thus far. This paper explores the potential for migration to serve as a safety valve as well as a medium term strategy for employment creation in conflict-prone states. It draws together the analytical and empirical arguments needed to make the case for enhancing the labour mobility options for these vulnerable populations. |
| Keywords: | Fragile states, export diversification, small states, migration, remittances |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F2 F22 F24 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-55&r=mig |
| By: | Burke, Sandy C.; Edelman, Mark |
| Abstract: | This study highlights the experiences of people who have recently moved to or from 19 selected nonmetropolitan counties of Iowa. This report examines housing factors as reasons for moving. The purpose is to increase understanding about why people move so community leaders and citizens can develop actionable strategies for attracting and retaining population. |
| Keywords: | population; migration; net migration; housing |
| Date: | 2009–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:31440&r=mig |
| By: | Shyamal Chowdhury (University of Sydney); Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak (School of Management at Yale University); Gharad Bryan (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | The rural northwestern districts of Bangladesh, home to 10 million people, experience a preharvest seasonal famine, locally known as Monga, with disturbing regularity. Surprisingly, outmigration from the Monga-prone districts is not all that common. This research tests whether migration could play any role in Monga mitigation. We implemented a randomized intervention that provided monetary incentives to individuals in Monga-prone regions to seasonally outmigrate during the pre-harvest season. We experimentally varied the conditionalities attached to the incentives, such as a requirement to form a group and migrate jointly (as opposed to migrating individually), sometimes assigning migration partners and the destination, and varying group size. This paper reports just the first stage results of this randomized intervention project, where we focus on household responsiveness to our incentive offers in terms of their decision to migrate. Our cash and credit incentives had a very large effect on migration propensity: over 40% of those receiving an incentive choose to migrate, whereas only 13% of control households do. This large effect is consistent with the presence of savings or borrowing constraints for these households, since providing information on wages and employment conditions at destinations only has a negligible 2 percentage point impact on the propensity to migrate relative to the control group. |
| Keywords: | Monga, famine, Bangladesh, migration |
| JEL: | O1 O15 R2 R23 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-41&r=mig |
| By: | Bernt Bratsberg (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Oddbjørn Raaum (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | To identify relative wage impacts of immigration, we make use of licensing requirements in the Norwegian construction sector that give rise to exogenous variation in immigrant employment shares across trades. Individual panel data reveal substantially lower wage growth for workers in trades with rising immigrant employment than for other workers. Selective attrition from the sector masks the causal wage impact unless accounted for by individual fixed effects. For low and semi-skilled workers, effects of new immigration are comparable for natives and older immigrant cohorts, consistent with perfect substitutability between native and immigrant labor within trade. Finally, we present evidence that immigration reduces price inflation, as price increases over the sample period were significantly lower in activities with growth in the immigrant share than in activities with no or small change in immigrant employment. |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:201006&r=mig |
| By: | Manish Pandey; James Townsend (Department of Economics, The University of Winnipeg) |
| Abstract: | Provincial Nominee Programs have increased the role of the provinces in selecting economic class immigrants to Canada. Despite the growing importance of the Nominee programs, relatively little is known about the outcomes of immigrants landing through these programs. In this paper, we use administrative data to compare the earnings and retention rates of Nominees with federal economic class immigrants in the first two years after landing. We find that Nominees had substantially higher earnings. However, Manitoba was the only province where Nominees were more likely to stay in the nominating province than observationally equivalent federal economic class immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Labor Mobility, Immigrant Workers, Wage Level and Structure, Wage Differentials |
| JEL: | J61 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:win:winwop:2010-01&r=mig |
| By: | Edward Miguel (Center of Evaluation for Global Action, University of California, Berkeley); Joan Hamory (Centre of Evaluation for Global Action, University of California) |
| Abstract: | This study exploits a new longitudinal dataset to examine selective migration among 1,500 Kenyan youth originally living in rural areas. We examine whether migration rates are related to individual “ability”, broadly defined to include cognitive aptitude as well as health, and then use these estimates to determine how much of the urban-rural wage gap in Kenya is due to selection versus actual productivity differences. Whereas previous empirical work has focused on schooling attainment as a proxy for cognitive ability, we employ an arguably preferable measure, a pre-migration primary school academic test score. Pre-migration randomized assignment to a deworming treatment program provides variation in health status. We find a positive relationship between both measures of human capital (cognitive ability and deworming) and subsequent migration, though only the former is robust at standard statistical significance levels. Specifically, an increase of two standard deviations in academic test score increases the likelihood of rural-urban migration by 17%. Accounting for migration selection due to both cognitive ability and schooling attainment does not explain more than a small fraction of the sizeable urban-rural wage gap in Kenya, suggesting that productivity differences across sectors remain large. |
| Keywords: | Migration, selection, human capital, ability, urban-rural wage gap, productivity |
| JEL: | O1 O15 C3 C33 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-45&r=mig |
| By: | Jonathan Crush (Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) and Southern African Research Centre (Queen’s University)); Sujata Ramachandran (Southern African Migration Project (SAMP)) |
| Abstract: | In the continuing discussion on migration and development, the vulnerability of all migrant groups to exploitation and mistreatment in host countries has been highlighted along with an emphasis on protecting their rights. However, xenophobia has not yet received explicit attention although anti-migrant sentiments and practices are clearly on the rise even in receiving countries in developing regions. Despite gaps in existing empirical work, research and anecdotal evidence exposes pervasive forms of discrimination, hostility, and violence experienced by migrant communities, with the latter becoming easy scapegoats for various social problems in host countries. This study attempts to insert xenophobia in this debate on migration and development by examining the growth of this phenomenon in host countries in the South. It provides short accounts of xenophobia witnessed in recent times in five countries including South Africa, India, Malaysia, Libya, and Thailand. The ambiguity surrounding the concept is discussed and crucial features that define xenophobia are outlined. A variety of methods to study it are likewise identified. Using a wide range of examples from diverse contexts, the paper explores possible reasons for the intensification of xenophobia. The final sections of the paper briefly outline the developmental consequences of rampant xenophobia for migrant and host populations while examining policy options to tackle it. |
| Keywords: | Xenophobia; anti-immigrant prejudice; violence; intolerance; social exclusion; discrimination; migrant vulnerability; policy; South Africa, India, Libya, Thailand, Malaysia |
| JEL: | O1 O15 Z1 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-47&r=mig |
| By: | Aldashev, Alisher; Thomsen, Stephan L.; Walter, Thomas |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effects of different short-term training programs on the employment chances of immigrant and native welfare recipients in Germany. In particular, we investigate whether program effects differ between both groups and what might cause these potential differences. In a first step, we evaluate program effects separately for immigrants and natives using propensity score matching estimators. To explain potential differences in effects between the groups, we suggest and apply a decomposition method based on the matching procedure that allows identification of differences due to observable characteristics and differences related to an immigrant fixed effect in a second step. -- |
| Keywords: | Immigrants,short-term training programs,evaluation,decomposition,matching,Germany |
| JEL: | I38 C14 J61 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10021&r=mig |
| By: | Daniel E. Ortega (Andean Development Corporation (CAF) and Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (IESA), in Caracas) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a framework and estimates of Enrollment Rates per natural and combines them with previous Income and Child Mortality per natural estimates by Clemens and Pritchett (2008) to produce a Human Development Index Per Natural. The methodology is applied for 1990 and 2000 to provide estimates of growth rates of this measure over the period. The paper also develops and illustrates a framework for estimating an education place premium, and discusses how it is related to per natural measures. The peoples of the least developed countries stand to gain the most from international migration, but there are potentially significant gains to migration between developing countries as well. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Human Development, Education |
| JEL: | F22 O15 O24 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-49&r=mig |
| By: | Christopher-Johannes Schild (University of Marburg); Matthias Wrede (University of Marburg and CESifo) |
| Abstract: | Regional cultural identity increases trust and facilitates interaction between native citizens ("social capital"). At the same time, it also affects non-native's migration decisions and their utility as it excludes non-native mobile workers from economic interaction within the region. Policies to increase regional cultural identity thus exert an externality that is negative for a basic model where future local productivity is exogenous and random, leading to the result of oversupply of regional culture under decentralization. If migration affects productivity, the basic result of oversupply may be reversed, depending on production technology and the government's objective function. Some positive and normative conclusions for cultural policy are derived. |
| Keywords: | Decentralization, Labor Mobility, Cultural Policy, Cultural Identity, Social Capital |
| JEL: | H72 H73 J61 Z13 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201016&r=mig |
| By: | Giannelli, Gianna Claudia (University of Florence); Mangiavacchi, Lucia (Universita de les Illes Balears) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the long-term effects of parental migration abroad on the schooling of children left behind in Albania. Although parents' migration usually benefits children economically, the lack of parental care may cause relational and psychological problems that may affect children's welfare in the long-term. The phenomenon of children left behind –mainly by fathers – is very relevant in Albania where migration has represented the only viable way to cope with increasing poverty and the absence of public resources for sustaining households’ incomes. Between 1990 and 2005 in Albania 21.7% of children under 18 have been left behind, with an average parental absence of 9.5 months. Using detailed information on family migration drawn from the Living Standard Measurement Survey for 2005, multiple choice models are applied to evaluate the school progression of older children and adolescents. A duration analysis of school participation with both discrete and continuous time models is then performed. The results show that past parental migration has a negative effect on school attendance in the long-term with higher hazards of school drop-outs for children left behind. These results are robust to the use of different econometric techniques and model specifications. |
| Keywords: | children, schooling, migration, duration analysis, Albania |
| JEL: | J13 J18 O15 P36 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4888&r=mig |
| By: | Mathias Risse (Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government) |
| Abstract: | Often, immigration debates are conducted under the presumption that immigration policies must be justifiable only to those who already live in the respective country. Alas, reflection on the justifiability of immigration policies to those excluded becomes ever more important in a politically and economically increasingly interconnected world. This study explores two approaches to the normative reflection on immigration at some depth, namely, the idea that restrictive immigration policies are problematic because they are hampering the development of human capabilities, as well as the idea that such policies are problematic because they are at odds with the fact that our planet belongs to humanity collectively. On both of these proposals, less restrictive immigration policies are not merely demanded as one possible way of aiding the poor, but would be required as such. Both of these approaches can be treated within the same framework, the grounds-of-justice framework, which allows us to focus on the idea that states must also be justified to those who do not belong to them. Central to the proposal about immigration that can be made within this approach are ideas of over- and under-use of commonly owned resources and spaces. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, justice, capabilities, common ownership of the earth, resources |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-34&r=mig |
| By: | Wei Ha (Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP); Junjian Yi (Economics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong); Junsen Zhang (Economics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of rural-to-urban migration on income inequality and gender wage gap in source regions using a newly constructed panel dataset for around 100 villages over a ten-year period from 1997 to 2006 in China. Since income inequality is time-persisting, we use a system GMM framework to control for the lagged income inequality, in which contemporary emigration is also validly instrumented. We found a Kuznets (inverse U-shaped) pattern between migration and income inequality in the sending communities. Specifically, contemporary emigration increases income inequality, while lagged emigration has strong income inequalityreducing effect in the sending villages. A 50-percent increase in the lagged emigration rate translates into one-sixth to one-seventh standard deviation reduction in inequality. These effects are robust to the different specifications and different measures of inequality. More interestingly, the estimated relationship between emigration and the gender wage gap also has an inverse Ushaped pattern. Emigration tends to increase the gender wage gap initially, and then tends to decrease it in the sending villages. |
| Keywords: | Internal Migration; Inequality; System GMM |
| JEL: | O15 J61 D31 C33 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-27&r=mig |
| By: | Wei Ha (Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP); Junjian Yi (Economics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong); Junsen Zhang (Economics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of both permanent and temporary emigration on human capital formation and economic growth of the source regions. To achieve this end, this paper explores the Chinese provincial panel data from 1980 to 2005. First, the fixed effects model is employed to estimate the effect of emigration on school enrollment rates in the source regions. Relative to this aspect, we find that the magnitude (scale) of permanent emigrants (measured by the permanent emigration ratio) is conducive to the improvement of both middle and high schools enrollments. In contrast, the magnitude of temporary emigrants has a significantly positive effect on middle school enrollment but does not have a significant effect on high school enrollment. More interestingly, different educational attainments of temporary emigrants have different effects on school enrollment. Specifically, the share of temporary emigrants with high school education positively affects middle school enrollment, while the share of temporary emigrants with middle school education negatively affects high school enrollment. Second, the instrumental variable method is applied to estimate the effect of emigration on economic growth within the framework of system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The estimation results suggest that both permanent and temporary emigrations have a detrimental effect on the economic growth of the source regions. Our empirical tests provide some new evidence to the "brain drain" debate, which has recently received increasing attention. |
| Keywords: | Brain drain, human capital, emigration, economic growth |
| JEL: | J22 J24 O12 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-37&r=mig |
| By: | Marc Helbling |
| Abstract: | By analyzing public debates on integration and immigration and issues this paper investigates to what extent citizenship models can be considered a broader societal phenomenon. Do these models exist beyond legal regulations? Do they shape the way political actors struggle over such issues in public or are these debates transnational in nature and much more influenced by international actors and liberal norms? To answer these questions, positions and arguments of political actors in the context of various issues related to integration and immigration are investigated. Quantitative media data for the period 1999 - 2006 are used to analyze debates in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Results show that citizenship models are not reflected in national debates. On the contrary, they are very similar across countries. There is no form of direct transnationalism either: Foreign and international actors play a negligible role in national debates. However, forms of indirect transnationalism can be observed: Political actors relatively often resort to moral-universalist arguments to back their positions. |
| Date: | 2010–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0240&r=mig |
| By: | Giulia BETTIN (Universit… di Napoli Parthenope, Dipartimento di Studi Economici); Riccardo LUCCHETTI (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia) |
| Abstract: | We consider the estimation of linear models where the dependent variable is observed by intervals and some continuous regressors may be endogenous. Our approach is fully parametric and two estimators are proposed: a two-step estimator and a limited-information maximum-likelihood estimator. The results can be summarised as follows: the two-step estimator may offer some computational advantages over the LIML (Limited Information Maximum Likelihood) estimator, and a Monte Carlo experiment suggests that its relative efficiency is rather satisfactory. The LIML estimator, however, is probably simpler to implement and has the advantage of providing a framework in which several testing procedures are more straightforward to perform. The application of TSLS (Two-Stage Least Squares) to a proxy of the dependent variable built by taking midpoints, on the other hand, leads to inconsistent estimates. An example application is also included, which uses Australian data on migrants' remittances endogeneity effects, so far neglected by the applied literature, are substantial and using conventional estimation methods leads to substantially misleading inference. |
| Keywords: | Instrumental variables, Interval models, Migration, Remittances |
| JEL: | C24 C25 F22 F24 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:339&r=mig |
| By: | Burke, Sandy C.; Edelman, Mark |
| Abstract: | This study highlights the experiences of people who have recently moved to or from Henry County, Iowa. This report summarizes details about reasons for moving, community satisfaction, sources of information, age, education, housing, and income of the respondents. The purpose is to increase understanding about why people move so community leaders and citizens can develop actionable strategies for attracting and retaining population. |
| Keywords: | population; migration; labor migration; net migration |
| Date: | 2009–12–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:31436&r=mig |
| By: | Burke, Sandy C.; Edelman, Mark |
| Abstract: | This study highlights the experiences of people who have recently moved to or from Taylor County, Iowa. This report summarizes details about reasons for moving, community satisfaction, sources of information, age, education, housing, and income of the respondents. The purpose is to increase understanding about why people move so community leaders and citizens can develop actionable strategies for attracting and retaining population. |
| Keywords: | population; migration; labor migration; net migration |
| Date: | 2009–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:31438&r=mig |
| By: | Burke, Sandy C.; Edelman, Mark |
| Abstract: | This study highlights the experiences of people who have recently moved to or from Hardin County, Iowa. This report summarizes details about reasons for moving, community satisfaction, sources of information, age, education, housing, and income of the respondents. The purpose is to increase understanding about why people move so community leaders and citizens can develop actionable strategies for attracting and retaining population. |
| Keywords: | population; migration; labor migration; net migration |
| Date: | 2009–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:31435&r=mig |
| By: | Burke, Sandy C.; Edelman, Mark |
| Abstract: | This study highlights the experiences of people who have recently moved to or from six southwest counties in Iowa. This report summarizes details about reasons for moving, community satisfaction, sources of information, age, education, housing, and income of the respondents. The purpose is to increase understanding about why people move so community leaders and citizens can develop actionable strategies for attracting and retaining population. |
| Keywords: | population; migration; labor migration; net migration |
| Date: | 2009–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:31433&r=mig |